Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos, "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple."
Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’"
Ps 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14
I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD —for he proclaims peace. Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land.
Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.
The LORD himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase. Justice shall walk before him, and prepare the way of his steps.
Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Eph 1: 3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.
In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.
In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.
In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God's possession, to the praise of his glory.
Mk 6:7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them,"Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them." So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
I prayed yesterday that Jesus reinforce my decision to ask to be a Eucharistic Minister, because I sometimes wonder about my abilities to proclaim the Good News in person—face-to-face, so to speak. I understand that my responsibility will not be to “preach” or “sermonize”, because that’s what we have priests for. But I will have to convey a certain confidence in the way others perceive me as a minister of the Body and Blood of Christ, Himself. And I know that some of the people I take Jesus to will not be properly disposed to receive Him and will simply want to talk about the faith, so I asked Jesus in prayer last night to let me know if what I have done is His will, and if He thinks I am capable of carrying it out.
I wish I could state the Good News as succinctly and forcefully as Paul does in his letter to the Ephesians. In fact, as soon as I read it this morning during Mass I had a “light bulb” go on over my head. I said to myself, “I’m just going to copy and paste his letter into my blog and write, ‘I can’t improve on this one bit!’”
That is, until I heard Father give his sermon. He asked the question, “Have you ever heard something so great that you felt like you’d bust a gut if you didn’t tell someone else?” He went on to say that’s what happened to Amos, Paul, and the Twelve.
Cue the bells. DINGDINGDINGDINGDING!!!!!
That’s what I feel, too. That's the real purpose of my blog!
I think that the readings today, the sermon, and a lot more prayer while on my drive to Fresnowas Jesus’ answer to my question from yesterday. So it’s full-steam ahead!
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