Christians are called to proclaim God’s word to the world, regardless of how unpopular this might be. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.
Readings for Thursday of week 13 of ordinary time can be found here.
What is your reaction when the smoke alarm goes off at home, or the fire alarm sounds in a public place? A lot of people I know assume that it is a false alarm – someone at home has burnt the toast again or the system is being tested or has gone off by accident. One friend, whose smoke alarm was located just outside the kitchen, kept it permanently with the cover open and the battery removed, because it was always going off. That was certainly a case of ignoring or disabling the messenger, rather than heeding the message.
We see this attitude at work in our first reading today. The prophet Amos has been warning the king of Israel about the disaster that will come upon the nation if it doesn’t mend its ways. Amaziah, the king’s right hand man, tries to get rid of Amos: “Go away seer, get back to the land of Judah … we want no more prophesying in Bethel”. Amaziah and the king want to take the battery out of the alarm, or silence Amos, rather than heed the warning and respond to it. But Amos replies that he cannot stop prophesying, for this is what God has called him to do.
In the Gospel, Jesus is also proclaiming a message, but this time through his actions. In healing the paralytic and declaring his sins forgiven, Jesus is doing several things. He is declaring to everyone that he is God’s Son, with God’s authority; he is announcing that God’s will is for healing and wholeness for people and creation; and he is announcing that God’s kingdom has arrived. Yet there are those there as well who do not want to hear or heed his message – some of the scribes accuse Jesus of blasphemy.
The church is called upon to be the smoke alarm in the midst of the world, to prophesy to power like Amos, and to announce God’s kingdom like Jesus. As they both discovered, this is never easy work. There will be those who simply won’t listen, or who try to silence us. But we must continue with this important work, for it has been entrusted to us by God. As Amos says, “it was the Lord who took me from herding the flock, and the Lord who said, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’”. Let us be bold in proclaiming God’s message to the world, knowing that he is always alongside us.
Mass today is in St Dyfrig & St Samson at 10am.
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