Homily 22nd Sun. OT B 20210829
Reflection: Our readings are not up-lifting. They are true and give a great message but they are downers in a week that supplied enough heartache for us. All of the readings provide sufficient fodder for our call to consciousness. We pray it ahead of our readings as preparation for the word of God.
Homily: Amos does not appear often in the Sunday scriptures, but he is a colorful and resilient character. He asserts strongly that he is not a professional prophet. It seems that his original occupation was a herdsman or an agricultural worker. God called him to a new way of being. We might think about that for ourselves. What is God calling me to be or do at this time, at my age?
The time in which Amos preached was one of peace and prosperity in Israel. This affluence was built on the backs of the poor. Amos preaches justice towards the destitute and because of this message he was thrown out of the temple by the priests. His message is as current as today, for me, for us.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in his classic book, The Prophets: reflects:
“What manner of (man) a person is the prophet?... To us a single act of injustice—cheating in business, exploitation of the poor—is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence: to us, an episode; to them, catastrophe, a threat to the world.” A powerful and poignant reflection!
The prophet is hypersensitive to the injustices of the world. For us we may shrug our shoulders and say that is how the world works. I may not like it but that is how it is. That is not how the reign of God works. Each of us in our small world needs to attend to the slights, the injustice, the abuse or misuse of humans and all creatures in our circle. That is what the gospel calls us to live and be attentive to in our little corner of the world.
The Second reading from the book of James, along with Amos and our psalm song, make it clear that the exploitation of those who are poor and of the earth by the rich is a perennial problem. It seems that every generation tells the same story with different settings and with various characters.
The exploitation of the earth is geometrically increased by industrialization and technology. Our earth and our environment are suffering. And so, we sang today: “Let justice roll like a river, and wash all oppression away; Come O God and take us, move and shake us. Come now and make us anew, that we might live justly like you.” That is a strong and powerful song and prayer that we just sang and prayed!
There is so much being talked about with rules concerning personal freedom and rules for the common good. How do we discern what is of God? The rule of the Israelites to wash their hands after being in the market place is really a very good rule that would keep disease from spreading in the community. What began as a health concern became idealized as a ritual. It happens with people! Jesus was very clear, it is what comes out of a person that defiles one. What comes from the heart is what defiles us. It is what we say with our words, our actions, our internet posts, our unexamined choices that have not yet risen to consciousness. It is our heart that speaks and sometimes there is a demon lurking in there.
Personally, it doesn’t take much to awaken the demons inside. A wise bunch of folks I know use the acronym HALT to discern the source of emotions getting out of hand within one. Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired? If I do a quick check and any of these are alive and well, a good laugh at myself solves the problem before I do any great damage to myself or anyone else. It is so important to be in tune with our bodies, emotions and the Spirit of the living Christ within us; that force of Love.
There has been enough sorrow this past week to last awhile. Yet our call to be a prophet continues to challenge us at our deepest core through sorrow, discouragement and joy. The demons that dishearten us are always alive and well. Jesus promised us, “I will be with you always.” We continue to believe and live into this promise of presence and love.
Reflection: Our readings are not up-lifting. They are true and give a great message but they are downers in a week that supplied enough heartache for us. All of the readings provide sufficient fodder for our call to consciousness. We pray it ahead of our readings as preparation for the word of God.
Homily: Amos does not appear often in the Sunday scriptures, but he is a colorful and resilient character. He asserts strongly that he is not a professional prophet. It seems that his original occupation was a herdsman or an agricultural worker. God called him to a new way of being. We might think about that for ourselves. What is God calling me to be or do at this time, at my age?
The time in which Amos preached was one of peace and prosperity in Israel. This affluence was built on the backs of the poor. Amos preaches justice towards the destitute and because of this message he was thrown out of the temple by the priests. His message is as current as today, for me, for us.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in his classic book, The Prophets: reflects:
“What manner of (man) a person is the prophet?... To us a single act of injustice—cheating in business, exploitation of the poor—is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence: to us, an episode; to them, catastrophe, a threat to the world.” A powerful and poignant reflection!
The prophet is hypersensitive to the injustices of the world. For us we may shrug our shoulders and say that is how the world works. I may not like it but that is how it is. That is not how the reign of God works. Each of us in our small world needs to attend to the slights, the injustice, the abuse or misuse of humans and all creatures in our circle. That is what the gospel calls us to live and be attentive to in our little corner of the world.
The Second reading from the book of James, along with Amos and our psalm song, make it clear that the exploitation of those who are poor and of the earth by the rich is a perennial problem. It seems that every generation tells the same story with different settings and with various characters.
The exploitation of the earth is geometrically increased by industrialization and technology. Our earth and our environment are suffering. And so, we sang today: “Let justice roll like a river, and wash all oppression away; Come O God and take us, move and shake us. Come now and make us anew, that we might live justly like you.” That is a strong and powerful song and prayer that we just sang and prayed!
There is so much being talked about with rules concerning personal freedom and rules for the common good. How do we discern what is of God? The rule of the Israelites to wash their hands after being in the market place is really a very good rule that would keep disease from spreading in the community. What began as a health concern became idealized as a ritual. It happens with people! Jesus was very clear, it is what comes out of a person that defiles one. What comes from the heart is what defiles us. It is what we say with our words, our actions, our internet posts, our unexamined choices that have not yet risen to consciousness. It is our heart that speaks and sometimes there is a demon lurking in there.
Personally, it doesn’t take much to awaken the demons inside. A wise bunch of folks I know use the acronym HALT to discern the source of emotions getting out of hand within one. Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired? If I do a quick check and any of these are alive and well, a good laugh at myself solves the problem before I do any great damage to myself or anyone else. It is so important to be in tune with our bodies, emotions and the Spirit of the living Christ within us; that force of Love.
There has been enough sorrow this past week to last awhile. Yet our call to be a prophet continues to challenge us at our deepest core through sorrow, discouragement and joy. The demons that dishearten us are always alive and well. Jesus promised us, “I will be with you always.” We continue to believe and live into this promise of presence and love.
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