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Fourteenth Sunday - Cycle B
Jesus Llama - Courtesy of El Seminario Concilar de San Jose, Cuernavaca, Morellos, Mexico
Sacred Scriptures

Ezekiel 2:2-5
Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6
    The readings for this Sunday continue to focus on an issue that will not go away:  vocations, our call to extend what we receive from Christ to others and return the blessings to Christ through the way we live our lives.  The gospel today tells us how Jesus sends forth his disciples to extend his ministry in the world.  Jesus does not take the rich, the extraordinarily intelligent or even the most charismatic people.  Jesus chooses the ordinary people from his society for his saving ministry.  The first reading recalls the vocation story and background of the prophet Amos.  Like the disciples after him, Amos was not taken from among extraordinary people but rather from among the ordinary.  Amos was a shepherd, just another person trying to make a living in a very humble position.  Saint Paul ties these two readings together.  We hear Paul preach that we have been given every blessing and we are chosen, we are predestined, to be one with the Father through Jesus Christ.  We who are ordinary people can accomplish the work of God in the world if we accept God's will in our lives.
     Today, many stigmas exist concerning vocations, particularly to the priesthood and religious life.  Many barriers of fear reign in our hearts.  Many of us would never encourage our children to pursue a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.  Many of us just do not think that we have the talents, the ability, or the holiness needed to be a priest or religious in today's world.  Some of us hold negative views of what priests and religious represent for various reasons.  These and many other barriers shut us out from the grace of God Saint Paul so passionately speaks about.  These barriers make waht may be God's will for us seem like a burden.  These barriers keep us from our destiny:  union with Christ.
     Answering the call to "go out among the nations," in the name of Jesus is not an easy one.  It can be expressed in married life, in single life and in priesthood and religious life.  It takes commitment and perseverance which goes beyond the easy times in our lives.  A vocation and our response is not a burden, it is a grace in which God takes the ordinary woman or man and uses them as a saving tool in the work of salvation. 
     May we who are called to love serve the Lord and each other answer the call of the Lord.  May we who are sent forth by Christ from this Eucharist be willing to send others forth by inviting them to make a commitment to explore a vocation.  May we who are ordinary, every-day people open our hearts to receive God's loving redemption, to celebrate the risen Redeemer present in Word, Sacrament and our Neighbor, and to make a return to God in our response to our call and in our inviting others to share in the great commission of the Lord Jesus.
Peace,  Shaun Lowery
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