02 July. Monday, Week 13

• 1st Reading: Amos (2:6-10, 13-16)

Israel is blamed for neglecting the poor and the defenseless

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, they trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way; father and son go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink wine bought with fines they imposed.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of cedars, and who was as strong as oaks; I destroyed his fruit above, and his roots beneath. Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. So, I will press you down in your place, just as a cart presses down when it is full of sheaves.
Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain their strength, nor shall the mighty save their lives; those who handle the bow shall not stand, and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves, nor shall those who ride horses save their lives; and those who are stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day,” says the Lord.

Resp. Psalm (Ps 50)

R./: Remember this, you who never think of God

Why do you recite my commandments,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you despise my law
and cast my words to the winds? (R./)
When you see a thief, you go off with him,
and throw in your lot with adulterers.
To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit. (R./)
You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother’s son you spread rumours.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes. (R./)
Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God. (R./)

Gospel: Matthew (8:18-22)

Jesus invites some to become itinerant preachers like himself

When Jesus saw great crowds around him, he got them to cross over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Arguing the toss with God

Much of the Old and most of the New Testament portrays a personal, compassionate God. But after today’s tirade from the prophet Amos, and the harsh statement attributed to Jesus, “Let the dead bury their dead,” we may wonder where is the mercy to be found. The Irish expression “arguing the toss” often refers to a serious search for meaning. When Jesus said “Let the dead bury their dead,” he invites us to wrestle with life’s paradoxes. His words are meant more to stir us to reflection than to provide neat, catechism answers.
Amos was the first of a series of writing prophets in Israel, people of deep and honest faith, who troubled the public conscience by their outspoken defence of God’s honour and by calling for a conversion in their society’s values. Today is the first of a series of readings from the prophets that will extend for the next seven weeks. More than any other part of the Scriptures these prophetic writings prepare us to understand Jesus, who was above all a prophet. Sometimes Jesus and these ancient prophets speak with such finality that they seem to bring conversation to a close. But their words echo within our memory and force us to reflection.
“Let the dead bury their dead” echoes the stern message of Amos. With no show of emotion, Amos cites the evidence, a list of social abuses in which the poor were trampled down. The rich have trampled the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and oppressed the poor. To go on committing such crimes is to be morally dead. Amos trusts that God will avenge the oppressed, just as he once saved them from Egyptian slavery.
People who are comfortably off might still want to argue with God, about how to structure our social economy; how to combine the necessary amount of sharing with avoiding mere free-loading or moral hazard. But if they want to take Jesus seriously, they cannot refuse to question their own part in an unjust status quo. So long as they are at least open to some measure of conversion, a ray of hope always remains, for he always wants to give healing and life.

Persevering in vocation

The man who spoke Jesus in today’s gospel speaks in a way that suggests generosity of spirit and the best of intentions, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go.” In response, Jesus tempers his enthusiasm with the reality of what lies ahead for his followers, “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” They will be following someone who is always on the move, without a real home to call his own. Whenever our generosity of spirit and our enthusiasm meets the harsh realities of life we can become less generous and less enthusiastic. Jesus’ closest disciples had the best of intentions when they left their nets by the Sea of Galilee to follow him, but when the cross came into view for Jesus and for them, they drifted away.
It is hard to retain idealism, enthusiasm and generosity over the long haul, especially when the cross comes our way in one shape or form. At those times we realize that our own strength of spirit is not enough. We need the Lord to be our strength when we lose heart, our inspiration when we are tempted to settle for less, and our refuge when we meet with the storms of life. We can only be faithful to following Jesus if we let him be our resource, our food for the journey. That is what he wants to be. He does not ask us to go it alone but to rely on him every step of the way.