15th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
July 11, 2021

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

So today we continue to pray for our Holy Father Pope Francis, as he’s recovering from surgery. We ask God to bring him healing and strength and help our Holy Father to know our love and our closeness to him in our prayers!

It seems that the Holy Father is recovering well so let us just keep him in our prayers in a special way during this time after he had that surgery. 

So our readings this morning, as I was saying before, talk to us about our vocation and mission as disciples. 

In the first reading, we hear the prophet Amos. And as we heard, Amos wasn’t always a prophet. He was just a simple, normal person. A shepherd, a gardener. He takes care of the sycamore trees. So there was nothing “special” about him, nothing extra-ordinary. Just the dignity of being an ordinary worker. 

But Amos tells us, as we heard in the first reading of today’s Mass: “The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

And we also heard the same story in the Gospel today. Our Lord sends out his apostles, the Twelve, to preach. 

And again, of course we know that the apostles were just ordinary men from ordinary families, working ordinary jobs — they were fishermen, one of them was a tax collector. Jesus calls them and he sends them out. He gives them a mission. 

And one word calls my attention in today’s Gospel. As we heard, the Gospel says, “Jesus summoned the Twelve and BEGAN to send them out, two by two.” 

Jesus “began” to send his disciples out. So our Gospel today is telling us about the “beginning” of the Church’s mission. 

And my dear brothers and sisters, as we know, the Church’s mission is still going on. Jesus is still sending out his disciples — to spread his love, to carry his Gospel to ends of the earth. 

The Church’s mission continues in our lives. We are the disciples that Jesus is sending out now, in our time and place. 

God is sending us out, just as he sent out the prophet Amos, just as he sent out the Twelve apostles. He is calling each one of us to proclaim his good news to our families and neighborhoods, to our society. 

Because the mission of the Church is our mission! Together. You and me. Each one of us doing what God want us to do, personally in our own lives. 

I hope that we can never forget this. The Church’s mission is not just the responsibility for pastors or priests or religious brothers and sisters. That’s the lesson today. Jesus calls all of us — not just a few of us. Every one.

So I think that’s the first thing we should reflect on today, how that missionary call was not just for some special people but for all of us.

Then, it’s interesting that the Gospel today doesn’t tell us where Jesus sent the Twelve. But the Gospel does tell us that their mission started in people’s homes, in families. “Wherever you enter a house, Jesus said to them, stay there until you leave.” 

This is our mission, my brothers and sisters. The Kingdom starts in your homes, in your families. So the greatest thing you can contribute to the Kingdom of God is to make a happy home, where everyone loves one another and knows and loves God! 

Beautiful reflection that we have to think about!

The Twelve were given special powers — to work miracles of healing and to drive out demons, unclean spirits. And my brothers and sisters, our mission is less spectacular. It is more hidden and more humble. 

The true miracle is love. By the grace of God, we share the Gospel, by the way we love. Caring for other people, being generous and gentle, being understanding and merciful in your dealings with other people. These are the little everyday “miracles” that can change people’s lives. This is how we help people discover the reality and presence of God. 

It is also interesting that Jesus sends out his apostles today “two by two.” That is a beautiful reminder that our faith is not a solitary faith. Our faith is meant to be lived with others, to be shared.

To be Christians means that our faith is lived with others. In the Church, in our parishes, in our homes. And as we are reflecting this morning, the Kingdom grows by our friendships, and so we need to be good friends to others everywhere — in our homes, in the work we do, in our service to our neighbors. We need to care for one another and try to bring one another closer to Christ. 

The Gospel is good news! It is the beautiful truth that God loves us, that he has a plan for our lives, that we can know forgiveness, and we can start our lives all over again. 

So we should be very happy, joyful, cheerful! We should proclaim the Gospel with love in our hearts and a smile on our face. 

So let’s reflect on this beautiful missionary call that we all have this coming week. And let’s ask for the grace today to proclaim Jesus by the way we live. In little ways, showing the love of God to the people in our lives.  

Let us especially ask Mary our Blessed Mother to help us to follow her Son and to share his love!

1. Readings: Amos 7:12-15; Ps. 85:9-14; Eph. 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13.