Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land:
“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
And the sabbath,
that we may open the grain-bins?
We will diminish the ephah,
add to the shekel,
and fix our scales for cheating! (Amos 8:4-5 NABRE)
Amos’s message stands as one of the most powerful voices ever to challenge hypocrisy and injustice. He is a prophet of divine judgment, and the sovereignty of the Lord in nature and history dominates his thought. Amos was a sheep breeder of Tekoa in Judah, who delivered his oracles in the Northern Kingdom during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (786–746 B.C.).*
Lord God, I thank you for the many blessings in my life. In our very prosperous times, please grant me the grace to humbly see myself as a steward of your gifts, and as such, wise in the handling of them. Guard me from the temptation to cheat and steal in a desire for material goods. Open my eyes to my own weaknesses. And lead me humbly away from occasions of greed.
Lord, lead me to moments of generosity: Times when I might "re-gift" your many material blessings, but more urgently, times when I might share the true wealth that comes from faith in you. Wealth that is the fruit of your Spirit: Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Today, I will look to experience and share with others fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Junipero Serra, Eighteenth-Century missionary to Native Americans, pray for us.
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