What are your
instructions from God?
The prophet Amos
is an ordinary man – a shepherd and dresser of sycamores. He is not highly educated, and he probably
smells bad. Why on earth would God call
him to be a prophet? Well, perhaps
precisely because Amos is humble: The Lord took me from following the flock,
and said, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.
Amos is sent to voice God’s word regarding injustice in his community,
including the oppression of the poor, and idolatry, a failure to be attentive
to the covenant. Amos fears the Lord, as Psalm 85 recommends;
he is in awe of the Lord, and hopes that, if the people follow God’s commands, justice and peace shall kiss. Isn’t that something we can all wish for?
The apostles, too,
are humble men, yet in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus
summons them and sends them out two
by two to proclaim the Good News.
The Twelve are ordinary human beings sent to do extraordinary things,
commissioned to tell the world that God destined
us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, as Paul tells the
Ephesians. Salvation is theirs! Salvation is ours! Do we know it? Do we share the Good News? Through baptism, we are
called to be priest, prophet, and king, and that prophetic piece is
significant. We, like the apostles, must
participate, for we are sent by God to spread that Good News, to proclaim it in the praise of God’s glory. How? As the apostles did, with love, acting in
love, loving one another, loving all. It
is extraordinary to realize this, but we have the same capacity to love that
they did. Our instructions are to act
with their faith, and share that love with the world.
Image source: www.wordle.net
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