Making Our Vocation Count!

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Am 7:12-15; Eph 1:3-14; Mk 6:7-13

The fifteenth Sunday invites us to reflect on our Christian vocation and our response to it. 

The readings of the day center around the theme of vocation and show how God has willed it for the good of humanity through those who have been called. 

The first reading from the book of Amos shows how Amos is bound to respond to God’s choice of him. When Amos prophesied against Jeroboam, the king, by saying that he would die in battle, Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, expels Amos from his area of jurisdiction, prohibiting him from prophesying at Bethel, the king’s sanctuary. Besides accusing Amos of treason, Amaziah doubted his prophecies because Amos was not born a prophet. However, Amaziah has no idea of the inspiration under which the prophet speaks. Also, the sin of Amaziah is that he judges others by himself, thus attributing corrupt motives by which he himself was influenced. Nevertheless, the prophet Amos remains undaunted by Amaziah’s threats because he does not practice prophesying as a profession or to gain a livelihood, but in obedience to the voice of God. Amos was neither self-commissioned nor trained in any human institution but followed God’s counsel. As such, the prophet rejects Amaziah’s counsel. 

The second reading revolves around three weighty words: ‘chosen,’ ‘redeemed,’ and ‘sealed.’ Laying out the concept of predestination, Paul invites us to grapple with a profound mystery. God did not choose us because of our holiness, but in order that we could be made holy and blameless. Similarly, the redemption we have received through the blood of Christ is a blessing unparalleled. With our faith in Christ, we cherish our redemption not as a privilege of the future, but of the present as well. Finally, the seal of the Holy Spirit can be understood through its inward and outward working. Inwardly, it is the felt result of the working of the Holy Spirit. Outwardly, it is experiencing the fruit of the Spirit. Thus, through these words, Paul explains the sublime gift of vocation we have received to holiness and blamelessness.

If Paul underlined the inner realization of vocation to holiness and blamelessness, the Gospel passage takes it beyond to situate it as being the antidote to evil in the world. As such, we understand the importance of vocation through the healing mission of the apostles. The authority over unclean spirits forms an integral part of the mission of the apostles. St. Mark fixes attention on the central object of Christ’s mission – to contend evil in every form, and especially to grapple with Satan in his stronghold in the hearts of people. For Mark, the mission of the apostles stood out as a great work because they countered evil, and the miracles they performed were the results of such a noble mission. Hence, the apostles’ authority over evil ends up doing good. 

Three points demand our reflection. 

Vocation is God’s gift: The first reading is an unmistakable example of the fact that our Christian vocation is a generous gift from God. Hence, the generous initiative of God should be greeted with generous human cooperation. The vocation that comes from God makes a moral claim on us, so we can never escape this duty. We complete God’s initiative when we surrender ourselves to doing God’s will, just as the prophet Amos does. 

Vocation is to holiness and blamelessness: Paul helps us understand the sublime nature of our vocation to holiness and blamelessness. Also, he provides a reason to show that we cannot take it for granted. Here, Paul lets us understand the meticulous divine plan to have us chosen, redeemed, and sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. With his presentation, Paul urges the Ephesian community to perceive the truth in its fullness and demands their committed response. 

Vocation is to proclaim the Gospel against evil: St. Mark highlights Gospel as the antidote to evil in the world. Hence, proclaiming the Gospel is to resist evil or to let others see the overwhelming power of the Good News in action against evil. As such, St. Mark highlights the fact that as long as there is evil in the world, the work of evangelization is incomplete for Christians. By means of their vocation, Christians are burdened with the duty to demonstrate the relevance of the Gospel and prove that evil will never prevail in the world. 

While underscoring the glory of Christian vocation, the fifteenth week demands that our response to it be generous and fitting. 

In sum, we are invited to make the vocation we have received count!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar