The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to respond as Jesus to the needs of those we may have shunned for our own comfort or to satisfy our own sense of self righteousness.
The reading from the Prophet Amos is his fourth vision of the summer fruit.
* [8:1–2] End-of-summer fruit…the end has come: the English translation attempts to capture the wordplay of the Hebrew. The Hebrew word for “fruit picked late in the season” is qayis, while the word for “end” is qes. (Amos, CHAPTER 8, n.d.)
Psalm 119 praises the Glories of God’s Law.
* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms, PSALM 119, n.d.)
The Gospel of Matthew describes the calling of Matthew.
* [9:13] Go and learn…not sacrifice: Matthew adds the prophetic statement of Hos 6:6 to the Marcan account (see also Mt 12:7). If mercy is superior to the temple sacrifices, how much more to the laws of ritual impurity. (Matthew, CHAPTER 9, n.d.)
Andy Alexander, S.J., comments that Jesus was challenging their thinking about being religious and he is challenging ours. It is so consoling for all of us who are sinners. God doesn't love us because we earn it, deserve it, or prove how good we are. God loves us because we need loving, because we need forgiving, because we can't earn his love. And, because we have experienced ourselves as "love-sinners," - that is who we are - we are moved by grace to love other sinners, too.
Being a sinner who is healed by God's love allows us, blesses us, to love the same way - through compassion, forgiveness, and accompaniment. This self-sacrificing love sends us to be for and with those who need loving - even those who don't seem to deserve it - starting with people in our families, in our churches, and those with whom we work.
How much grace would flow from each of us responding to the call to eat and drink with a few sinners tonight, and to enjoy them, affirm them and love them as Jesus did?
O Lord, may your grace, which brought this grace to our hearts and opened them, bring it to great fruitfulness in love and charity, in ways we can't even imagine. Amen. (Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Matthew did not delay when called by Jesus,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).
"The Lord, about to give salvation to all sinners believing in him, willingly chose Matthew the former publican. The gift of his esteem for Matthew stands as an example for our salvation. Every sinner must be chosen by God and can receive the grace of eternal salvation if one is not without a religious mind and a devout heart. So Matthew was chosen willingly by God. And though he is immersed in worldly affairs, because of his sincere religious devotion he is judged worthy to be called forth by the Lord ("Follow me"), who by virtue of his divine nature knows the hidden recesses of the heart. From what follows, we know that Matthew was accepted by the Lord not by reason of his status but of his faith and devotion. As soon as the Lord says to him, "Follow me," he does not linger or delay, but thereupon "he arose and followed him." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 45.1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 comments that we know that God loves us and wants us to love him and put him first in our lives. We also know that he wants us to love and care for one another. But sometimes the “requirements” of faith seem burdensome. They become something to “get through” so that we can do what we really want.
At times like these, remember what a privilege and a blessing worshipping God can be! Remember how lifting your heart to the Lord also lifts your burdens. Remember how much he loves you and how worthy he is of your praise. Above all, remember that God is giving you a chance to encounter him. And that can soften your heart and change the way you approach your whole day. “Lord, thank you for the privilege of worshipping you!” (Meditation on Amos 8:4-6, 9-12, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the attacks of Amos towards the practices of the rich particularly in the light of having to suspend commerce for the new moon observances. Most of the faults we encounter are against our neighbor. We neglect the vertical and horizontal aspect of our faith that seeks mercy for those suffering a famine for the Word of God. Friar Jude reminds us the sick, made lonely by their sin, need a physician who shows the Love of God to those who need it.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, values how Judaism and the Hebrew Scriptures introduced the gift of self-critical thinking into one’s relationship with God. The Jewish people, contrary to what might be expected, chose to present their arrogant and evil kings and their very critical prophets as part of their Holy Scriptures. They include stories and prophecies that do not tell the Jewish people how wonderful they are but, rather, how terrible they are! It is the birth of self-critical thinking and thus moves consciousness forward. No other religion has been known for such capacity for self-criticism, down to our own time. The Jewish rabbi and noted theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel understood such self-critical thinking and dissent as central to Judaism and to all vibrant and healthy religion.
Inherent to all traditional religion is the peril of stagnation. What becomes settled and established may easily turn foul. Insight is replaced by clichés, elasticity by obstinacy, spontaneity by habit. Acts of dissent prove to be acts of renewal. It is therefore of vital importance for religious people to voice and to appreciate dissent. And dissent implies self-examination, critique, discontent. Dissent is indigenous to Judaism. The prophets of ancient Israel who rebelled against a religion that would merely serve the self-interest or survival of the people continue to stand out as inspiration and example of dissent to this very day. An outstanding feature dominating all Jewish books composed during the first five hundred years of our era is the fact that together with the normative view a dissenting view is nearly always offered, whether in theology or in law. Dissent continued during the finest periods of Jewish history: great scholars sharply disagreed with Maimonides; Hasidism, which brought so much illumination and inspiration into Jewish life, was a movement of dissent. . . . Creative dissent comes out of love and faith, offering positive alternatives, a vision. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)
We ask the Spirit to help us examine the attitudes that separate us from addressing the needs of people we fail to recognize on our journey.
References
Amos, CHAPTER 8. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/amos/8?4
Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. (n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/070122.html
Matthew, CHAPTER 9. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9?9
Meditation on Amos 8:4-6, 9-12. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/07/01/428553/
Psalms, PSALM 119. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?2
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Holy Dissent. Daily Meditations Archive: 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/holy-dissent-2022-07-01/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). I Desire Mercy - Not Sacrifice. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=jul1
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