Today, we have another prophet put in front of us by the Church. Key to our understanding who is for us, is his call to remain faithful to the one, true God, and not the false gods and idols so often dancing in our way. Our prayer: Holy Prophet Amos, keep us faithful to God and not false gods, pray for us.
Amos was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judah, who prophesied in the eighth century B.C. His prophecies are dark and a proclamation of the judgement of the sovereign God. He is a voice of condemnation of the injustice and hypocrisy of the rulers of the people:
“Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land: “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may open the grain-bins? We will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the destitute for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals: even the worthless grain we will sell!” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done! Shall not the land tremble because of this, and all who dwell in it mourn? It will all rise up and toss like the Nile, and subside like the river of Egypt. On that day – says the Lord – I will make the sun set at midday and in broad daylight cover the land with darkness. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into dirges. I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth and make every head bald. I will make it like the time of mourning for an only child, and its outcome like a day of bitter weeping.” (8:4-10)
“For all that, God remains always the God of loving kindness, who will never forget his people:
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; then truly the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you as you claim. Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate; then it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will have pity on the remnant of Joseph.” (5:14-15)
Meditation by Archpriest David Petras