St. Irenaeus
Am 3: 1-8; 4:11-12
Hear this word, O children of Israel, that the LORD pronounces over you,over the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt:
You alone have I favored,
more than all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you
for all your crimes.
Do two walk together
unless they have agreed?
Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den
unless it has seized something?
Is a bird brought to earth by a snare
when there is no lure for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground
without catching anything?
If the trumpet sounds in a city,
will the people not be frightened?
If evil befalls a city,
has not the LORD caused it?
Indeed, the Lord GOD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants, the prophets.
The lion roars—
who will not be afraid!
The Lord GOD speaks—
who will not prophesy!
I brought upon you such upheaval
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah:
you were like a brand plucked from the fire;
Yet you returned not to me,
says the LORD.
So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel!
and since I will deal thus with you,
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
God Grants Good Gifts
In St. Ignatius’ set of prayer-meditations, The Spiritual Exercises, he instructs the meditator to “look how God works and labors” for her/him in “all things created on the face of the earth.”
It is in the same loving and caring way that God “labors” for us and grants gifts from above – as Ignatius so insightfully expresses – that we should hear God’s rebuke of Israel in the first reading from Amos and also of us. While God speaks judgment against his people Israel, this occurs in the context of care as God reminds them, “I brought you up from the land of Egypt” out of slavery.
God’s call for us to change is part of his providence: “Indeed, the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.” Not only to grant us gifts that delight us does God labor for us, but also and perhaps especially for our repentance.
—Timothy Perron, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic of the Midwest Province studying theology at Fordham University.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, our gracious judge, grant that we might know in our depths that every call from you to rid ourselves of sin comes from your own depths of love. Give us the wisdom to know that when we come to you in our brokenness you always seek to build us up and mend our fractured selves with your kind and tender touch.
Amen.
—Timothy Perron