Fr. Simon's Letter - July 11, 2021

Of all the prophets in the Old Testament, Amos is one of the few who is sent to the northern kingdom of Israel to prophesy. After hearing Jesus say in last Sunday’s gospel “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house” one would expect Amos to have an easier time. Prophets never have an easy time. 

Some of us think of prophets as those who predict the future. Others think of them as those who challenge the institutional status quo, those who shake things up, those who make others uncomfortable. There is some truth to this but we have to remember that every prophet disturbs, but not everyone who disturbs is a prophet.

The task of the prophet is not just about genuine moral indignation. It must be characterized by love, by empathy for the very persons he or she is challenging. True conversion can never come about by coercion, physical or intellectual. Hearts only change when they’re touched by love. 

Prophecy today must mirror that of Jesus. As he approached the city of Jerusalem shortly before his death, knowing that its inhabitants, in good conscience, were going to kill him, he wept over it. But his tears were not for himself, that he was right and they were wrong and that his death would make that clear. His tears were for them, for the very ones who opposed him, who would kill him and then fall flat on their faces. There was no glee that they would fall, only empathy, sadness and love for them, not for himself.

This week we hear Jesus sending out his disciples in twos, instructing them to take nothing for the journey but just to preach and to heal. We may not be sent to prophesy, but all of us, without exception, are sent with no excuses to people and places we may least expect, to witnesses to the all-embracing love of God we experience in our community of faith. May we remind ourselves of our baptismal calling as we try each day to become better disciples.

Blessings!!