Daily Readings Reflection for 7/12/09

Reflection on the Daily Readings for 7/12/09 by Fr. Bertrand Buby, SM

Scripture: 15th Sun.B. Amos 7:12-15. Psalm 85:9-10.11-12.13-14. Ephesians
1:3-14. Mark 6:7-13. Lectionary # 105:

Sunday is the Lord's day and our Eucharistic celebrations and the readings
are meant to help us enter into the mystery of Christ's redemptive action,
especially the Eucharist. We have an example from the last book of the
Bible, the Book of Revelation (never Revelations with an "s") that has the
words of John, the seer from Patmos who says,"On the Lord's day I was
caught up in ecstasy, and I heard behind me a piercing voice like the sound
of a trumpet which said, "Write on a scroll what you now see and send it to
the seven churches..." Sunday is the first day of the week in the Hebrew
way of reckoning days. Monday is simply called the second day. Sunday is
always associated with Christ's Resurrection and is for Christians the
beginning of a new creation in the order of the redeeming events of Jesus
Christ's life. It is central to our lives of worship, service, and
mission.

The first mission oriented people for the Christians were the apostles and
Jesus made sure there were twelve of them representing the 12 tribes of
Israel. This continued even after his death to keep the number of apostles
at 12. Paul, of course, is an apostle but in the sense of someone who has
experienced Christ as Christians today do, that is, through believing he is
alive because of his resurrection. It is always celebrated on a Sunday or
the anticipation of a Sunday the evening before. Here it is that we hear
what it means to be a disciple of the Lord and also how we are to be
apostles. Like the twelve original ones we are to bring healing, peace,
and Jesus' redeeming love to others through our actions and sometimes
through our words. The Eucharist and the liturgical readings are specially
chosen on Sundays to make us enter into our being summoned by Jesus to be
his followers. There we are nourished by both the word and the sacrament of
Jesus' presence in the elements of Bread and Wine. In fact, we believe
that each Eucharistic celebration is based on what happens in our Sunday
celebrations of word and sacrament thus we sometimes have an opportunity of
participating in the Eucharist during the week. Some even do this on a
daily basis because of their situation. But for most people Sunday is the
only day that they can actually participate in the Paschal Mysteries of the
Mass, namely, Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection. We all need the
word of God in our spiritual life of union with Christ and the sacrament of
the Eucharist is the primary way in which we participate in the life of
Christ. It is good that we have both word and sacrament in our Eucharistic
celebrations. We are sent at the end of the Mass and therefore are to be
today's apostles. An apostle is one who is sent to bring about what Mark is
telling us in today's Gospel. We are to expel evil, anoint those who are
sick, and cure those who need curing.

Blessed William Joseph Chaminade who was one of the first to be beatified
in the twenty-first century loved to tell his followers "You are all
missionaries." We are all summoned to be apostles today who bring the
positive approach of the Good News to others. This is in harmony with one
of the earliest narratives about apostleship in the Gospel of Mark wherein
Jesus commissions his twelve disciples to become missionary apostles who do
get rid of evil, heal people, and anoint others. Sundays remind us that we
are also being summoned by Jesus to do what the original twelve did. We
realize that Jesus has no other laborers for the harvest than ourselves.
We truly are all missionaries of the Lord. Amen.