FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - JULY 14, 2024

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The name which we give to all things is chosen because it indicates something profound about a person or thing’s identity. A person’s first name reflects something important to the parents who bestowed it upon them, and one’s name has a very real effect on who they might grow up to become. Our name as the Catholic Church reflects a crucial aspect of our faith: the love of Christ has been opened up to any and all who desire to enter into a life dedicated to him through baptism, which means our faith embodies the meaning of the word “universal”, which in Greek is katholikos. The significance of a name or a title also applies to the Mass - we are being called to go out and share Christ to the world.

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READ THIS SUNDAY'S MESSAGE

We do not simply call our gathering at the altar a “worship service,”or “church,” or “liturgy”. Rather, the name we give to the Source and Summit of Christian Life is derived from one of the last words we hear uttered by the priest: in the original Latin, the words are Ite, missa est, which simply translates to “go, it has ended”. Missa, where we get the word “Mass,” is a dismissal and a directive. We are now being called to go out into the world, taking what we received from the sacrifice of the Mass both in the words of Scripture and in the offering of the Eucharist, and to bring it out into the world so that our “universal” faith may truly live up to its own name - that Christ may be accessible to any and all who desire him. We are the only ones who are equipped and sent out for the sole purpose of sharing him to the world. As St. Theresa of Avila once beautifully said, “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.” If we go to Mass regularly, to hear the words “the Mass has ended, go in peace” may have lost a lot of its significance since we hear it so often. But behind these words is a message, specifically the message that Christ shares to his Apostles in this Sunday’s Gospel. You are being sent out, but not alone. You have a community to join you in your mission: every person who assents to the dismissal with the words, “thanks be to God.” In our mission, we must not attempt to rely on our own talents and abilities, nor should we despair in our inadequacies, because God will provide everything we need in order to share Him with the world. Some people will welcome the message we have, while some will reject it. If anyone is to reject it freely, we must thank God, pray for those souls who cannot accept Christ, and move on. Most importantly, though, we are not attempting to evangelize or be apologists for the faith; we are instead serving as mouthpieces for God through which He can speak and work. We do nothing besides allowing ourselves to be his hands and feet in this world.

The next time you attend Mass, reflect prayerfully on these words when you are dismissed. Mean it when you say, “thanks be to God,” and take the Mass with you out into the world. It does not matter if you are a theologian, a minister, a layperson, or someone who simply attends Mass as a faithful Catholic; Christ is speaking through the priest at the dismissal, calling you as an individual to go out into the world for a life of mission. This looks different for every person: for some, this means actively ministering to every soul they encounter, but for most, it simply means intentionally dedicating every little thing we do in our daily lives to the glory of God. We find ourselves in the same position as the prophet Amos, who says that the Lord took him from being a mere follower of the flock to be a messenger to Israel. At Mass, we are followers within the flock. When we are sent out, we are being called to be messengers of Christ to the world.