For most of this week, we will hear the frank and ferocious words of the prophet Amos. He pulls no punches in indicting the injustices of Israel’s and our society. We may, in fact, be discouraged at seeing how similar are the injustices against the poor in our world and then.
The slightest acquaintance with conditions around the world today show us the poor still being enslaved for others’ profit or being expected to live a subhuman life because of others’ disregard and cruelty. We ask, hasn’t anything changed? We can, it is true, point to improvements, no matter how spotty and shaky. But the deep-seated greed that lurks in all of us needs to be fought continually by people who speak on behalf of justice and for the poor and powerless. We need prophets, people who speak up for the poor and act against injustice, people like the spiritual giants of our history like Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa.
There are always enough of us who speak up for self-interest and the comfort of our own economic class. The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading, addressed to two different individuals, stress the Son of God’s solidarity with the poor and the urgency of His mission. Come, he says, forget about personal comfort and join me now in bringing good news to the poor, healing the broken hearted, binding up wounds, and announcing in word and deed that God walks with us and labors with us in bringing the whole creation to greater fulfillment.