Afternoon Sun. Joaquín Sorolla, 1903, The Hispanic Society of America, New York.

FIRST READING:
September 29, 2019
Amos 6:1A, 4–7

This week we again read from the Prophet Amos. An introduction to Amos and the time and place of his writings may be found in our reflections on Amos from last July. This particular passage emphasizes the destruction and exile of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 721 BC. This was a key event in the history of the Jewish people and has entered folklore as the lost tribes of Israel. Many “histories” have been fabricated about what happened to them. Yet the point is that there was no experience of an Exodus, unlike their forebears under Moses or their successors in the reign of Cyrus. They did not return to their land but were lost to history.  Amos sees the reason why very clearly and is not hesitant to explain it.

We have seen that the Northern Kingdom was very prosperous and under Jeroboam 2 (783–743 BC). He had considerable success in playing the major powers off against each other. This had made the people complacent and greedy. Whenever we read from the book of Amos, we confront the reality of injustice. Last week, we saw God’s special anger at the people who thought they could replace justice with piety. This broke the connection between God and the people with disastrous results.

We begin today with:

Woe to the complacent in Zion,
to the overconfident on the mount of Samaria,
Leaders of a nation favored from the first,
to whom the people of Israel have recourse
(Amos 6:1)

Amos will show them that their complacency has made them blind. The next two verses are not quoted in this passage but are very pertinent to the whole story: Continue reading “26th Sunday Ordinary Time – No Exodus for the Complacent and Unjust” →

The Angelus, Jean-François Millet, 1857-1859, Musée d’Orsay

FIRST READING:
September 22, 2019
Amos 8:4–7

This week, we read from the Book of Amos. We last read from this book in July of 2018. Oddly we will also read it again next week. This week, we look at one of the visions of Amos and examine the consequences of wrapping worship around injustice.

King Jeroboam 2 was king of Israel between 783–743 BC. He was a talented politician and saw that Assyria, the dominant power in the north at the time, was experiencing internal discord. He was able to expand his country’s boundaries and its trade bringing unparalleled prosperity, for at least the aristocracy. This was seen in the development of cities which centralized both worship and commerce often by the same people (king: Amos 7:10–11, high priest: Am. 7:16–17, and wealthy of Samaria: Am. 4:1–3). This prosperity also brought ignorance of God. It is to this world that Amos is sent.

The most critical development was the growth of a permanent underclass, which was contrary to the will of God. This is reflected not only in the writings of Amos and his near contemporary in the Northern Kingdom Micah, but in the other prophets as well. At about the same time Isaiah said:

Learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow
(Is. 1:17) Continue reading “25th Sunday Ordinary Time – Hearing the Cry of the Poor, Hearing God’s Word, and Acting!” →