The message of the Liturgy of the Word today is very simple and direct. It says that not only are we called to receive the Word of God but we also are called to carry that Word into the whole world.
The first reading from Amos is rather picturesque with the rugged outdoorsman, “who was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The Lord took me from following the flock” is how he described his vocation. In our text he is being told by the refined professional religious to get out of the territory. This is the royal temple. Prophets like you are not acceptable. It reminds me of the time when I was told by a Vatican official never to come into his office again! This reading could easily get us into the topic of the professional religious and the authentic minister of the Word of God. But we will not go there!
The Gospel offers us a similar scene, Jesus sending the twelve two by two to carry the message of the Kingdom to others. They were to have nothing but the power of the Word; power over unclean spirits; and power to cure the sick. The apostles were to bring with them the bare essentials. They were not to attract the people by their personal possessions. In fact, they were to be dependent on the local community for their shelter and food. Jesus is really establishing the pre-Church. This first mission of the apostles takes place before Jesus’ death and resurrection, before the coming of the Spirit. Again, it would be simple to set-up the contrasts between the simple preacher sent by Jesus and the institutional church!
A common element in the two readings is that the persons chosen to bear the Word of God are not extraordinary in any obvious manner. The herdsman Amos, the fishermen apostles or from last Sunday, Paul who bore a particular burden, were the persons who carried the good news of salvation. So, we too insignificant as we are have been called to proclaim the Kingdom.
It is not by making ourselves significant or more insignificant that we can be certain of our being called. God chose us in Christ before the world began and gave us the wisdom to know that all things are one in Christ; God chose us, we all have been called to live the life of the Spirit; we have all been called to share the joy and hope of the Gospel with all peoples. That is what Paul told us in the second reading.
As the Father sent the Son, so the Son has sent the disciples on a mission to continue until the end of time. As the Father and the Son sent the Spirit so the disciples continue to bestow the Spirit on the ever-increasing members of the body. The Spirit calls each of us to believe in the One who died that we might live. The Spirit calls us to the love of our brothers and sisters as Jesus loved. To love is to will the good of the other. That is the basic Gospel message we must live and proclaim by our lives. That is, we are called to give our lives that others may live. The Spirit we have received gives us the freedom that will liberate us from our selfish sins and lead us to the Kingdom of the Father.
Our Liturgy of the Word reminds that we have the gift of the Spirit and we are all called to give witness to the new life; to share the reality of the Gospel by the way we live; to rely on the Spirit in the Gospel message to give the gift of life to others.