Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 2, 2024 - Tuesday in the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12 and Matt 8:23-27]So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel! And since I will thus deal with you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel! [Amos]
There are four "major" prophets in the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. And there are twelve "minor" prophets, of which Amos is one of the most colorful. He was a "dresser of sycamores." The sycamore in the Middle East is kin to the fig tree and does produce a kind of fruit. Amos was involved in a process of pinching the fruit-bearing stalks to make them more fruitful. Well....it looks like he was called to "pinch" Israel (which was the title of the "northern kingdom.").
The broad saga of the Chosen People from Abraham in the Old Testament to John the Baptist in the New Testament is filled with figures who challenged the loss of faith and morals on an individual and collective basis. Their language, as well as their fate, could be colorful, blunt and violent. Prophets can be very uncomfortable people. Amos bluntly accuses Israel (the northern part) of a loss of faith and morals. Over the next several days, we will hear his thunderous denunciations and indictments, warning of God's punishment. A line from today's passage has made its way into common English parlance: "Prepare to meet your God!!!!"
A collective loss of the moral compass that the scriptures offer, especially for us Christians in the New Testament, leads to such things as elective abortion, destruction of the environment, racial discrimination - the list could go on. After a while, we can tend to "tune out" prophetic voices. But we need them on both and individual and collective level. If we pay attention and act on the problem, we will not have to endure the words, "I told you so!" AMEN