Let Jesus be the beacon of our life

by Shiu Lan 2015-07-12

Shiu Lan 2015-07-12

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

AMOS 7:12-15
"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.”"

EPHESIANS 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.

MARK 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.

In this Sunday’s First Reading, we learned that Amos was originally a herdsmen, a dresser of sycamore trees when the Lord called him to prophesy to the people of Israel. Jesus called his twelve apostles from different walks of life and sent them out to spread the Good News of the kingdom of heaven and to be witnesses of Jesus’ ministry on earth. How about us? We have been called to believe and in fact, as St. Paul said in the Second Reading that we were chosen “in Christ before the foundation of the world”. (Ephesians 1:4)

Since we have been chosen to believe, what should we do in return for this grace which was “freely bestowed on us”? (Ephesians 1:6) Amos did what he was called to do, and the apostles too. So should we. What should we do as a believer? We should believe in words and in deeds, to live out our faith in our lives and in our everyday living. Regardless of our role in life, of what we do for a living, we now have a guiding principle which is to be found in the Gospels. Let Jesus be the beacon of our life. Let us imitate Jesus, think about what Jesus would do in that particularly difficult situation and let us do likewise. This is not easy. Not only it might make us look weird in the eyes of the world, it might actually make our life more difficult. But let us summon up our courage to do as Jesus would. Jesus would help us just as the Lord made Amos “prophesy to my people Israel” (Amos 7:15) and the triune God was with the apostles as they brought the Good News to all people to the ends of the earth.

Shiu Lan

Shiu Lan is your Catholic neighbour with a simple faith and likes praying the Rosary. With a B.Sc from the University of Hong Kong, she worked in Information Technology and Project Management before working with joy at home.

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