July 13, 2021
Editor’s note: This homily for July 11, 2021, inspired by Mark 6:8, was originally published on Fr. Mark-David’s Facebook page.
“He ordered them to take nothing for the journey; no bread, no bag, no money, only one tunic and sandals.” Mk 6:8
Not Enough.
The world is full of people telling you
That you are not enough.
Not tall enough, not short enough
Not thin enough, not big enough
Not old enough, not young enough
Not smart enough, Not enough education,
not experienced enough,
not pretty enough, not handsome enough
not strong enough, not tough enough
not fast enough
not talented enough.
Not good enough is the message
heard from so many people from as far back as we recall-
we say it to ourselves before anyone else has a chance.
Not enough
Are words you will never hear from Jesus.
As far as Jesus is concerned
You are more than enough.
You can trust enough.
You can hope enough.
You can love enough.
You are holier than you think.
In your heart, repeat those words:
You are holier than you think.
Jesus, seeing as God sees,
Finds in those who will betray him
The courage that will make them apostles.
Seeing as God sees.
Jesus sees women shunted to the background
And finds heroes of faith, mercy and love.
Jesus sees in sinners everyone condemns
Grace, goodness and hope.
Jesus sees in foreigners that are shunned
Friends he wants to eat with.
God always sees more in people than
Anyone else does,
More than we see in ourselves.
Abram and Sarah were old childless and waiting to die.
Moses was a refugee with a stammer.
David was a young shepherd boy.
Amos, a tree farmer, dresser of sycamores.
Mary was a just a girl.
Joseph just a carpenter.
And Jesus, was just a kid to people he grew up with.
Jesus doesn’t look for followers, fans, paparazzi,
He looks for people to do what he did:
Spread faith and hope, love and mercy
Around the world.
“You don’t need anything other than you”
Is what he tells his friends as he sends them off
You don’t need anything but you:
No staff to protect,
No clothes to impress,
No money to convince.
You, standing in your own sandals
You are enough!
You have enough love to deal with life.
Enough love to change the world.
Give it all away and there will always be more.
You have enough faith, hope and love
To make a difference in people’s lives.
When you meet people who don’t believe in you
People who say you are not enough
Get away from them, Jesus says.
Shake their dust from your feet!
Don’t listen to them!
Don’t believe people who don’t believe in you.
Don’t you ever think God is not working in you.
We are no different, you and me.
Like Amos, we have a day job.
Like disciples, we fail a lot,
Maybe even sin a lot.
There are more than enough people
Who walk past us without thinking twice
And more than enough who don’t believe in us.
Jesus seeing more in us than we see
Sends us out into whatever life we have
To spread faith, hope and love.
Pope Francis says it this way:
Your life is a little gospel-
The entirety of your life is a mission:
God speaking to the world through you.
Your life is God’s message,
a blessing that only you can give.
Do we make mistakes-all the time;
But as the Holy Father reminds us,
Even saints are not saints all the time;
mistaken, and yes, even sinful.
But you remain God’s message.
You are God’s blessing by being faithful
To your truest, deepest self,
where the Holy Spirit lives.
Will people always like it when you are yourself, No.
They didn’t all like Jesus either.
But that didn’t stop God from sending Jesus.
And it doesn’t stop God from sending you.
In communion, we are one with the Risen Christ.
But, the final blessing, at the end of mass
Is God sending you back home
To love the world for Christ’s sake.
Each week, at each mass
The final blessing is God’s way of telling you,
You are holier than you think.
Amen.