25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C (2025)

Amos is often thought to be the earliest of all the literary/writing prophets. He lived about 750 years before Jesus’ birth, at the time when the people of Israel had recently divided into two kingdoms: north and south, and were not necessarily on friendly terms. Amos was from the southern kingdom, from a town called Tekoa which would have been maybe ten miles south of Jerusalem. Although he was from the South, the rebuke God sent him to proclaim was against the people of the North. He was speaking harsh words of critique as an outsider, which tends to be even less well received.

He condemned the people of the north for their failure to be faithful to God’s Covenant, but he held a special anger toward the wealthy and influential: the people of power. Amos’ message was principally in response to problems of a social nature: specifically, care for the poor and the vulnerable.

Today, we hear him call out those “who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor”. Maybe we don’t intentionally and consciously do harm to the poor, but maybe it gives us cause to consider if we fail to give proper support to the poor—a sin of omission, “what I have failed to do”.

Perhaps any one of us could cite reasons that we aren’t more responsive to the needs of the poor. Some of us may say that we've seen people scam the systems of charitable organizations, or that they have been personally scammed by those who present themselves as needy. Some of us may say that we've seen people begging for help and yet seem to be rich in material possessions, such as an expensive automobile or other extravagant expenditures. Some of us may say that providing for the poor is the work of the government, and that by paying our taxes we've done our job. Some of us are of the belief that for those who are poor, it’s the result of bad decisions or laziness.

But as Christians, even if we've heard about those who scam or witnessed it for ourselves, we cannot let our hearts become so hard that we fail to be compassionate and responsive. Caring for the poor is inherently a Christian response, and governments learned it from Christianity.

We do so, because Jesus cared greatly about those who suffered, and we are called to live like him. Recall his prophetic words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor”. We do so, because he tells us that the more we lift up our brothers and sisters, the more we make present the Kingdom of God. We do so, because he makes it clear, that it is him we experience in those we help: “Whatever you did for one of these least of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).

In recent weeks, I've been working with Deacon Jerry to establish an organized practice for our parish in its response to the poor. Various parishioners are involved in beautiful ways with different organizations, but I believe we can better organize our efforts as a parish. We therefore, intend to consult some of our parishioners whose hearts are deeply invested in such efforts, and together, to select local organizations that we believe do the work of Christ, so that we can create an ongoing relationship of support from our parish, both financially, as well as our participation. Look for more about that, likely in the next month or two.

Back to Amos’ words. In addition to violations against the poor, he calls out the merchants and vendors who have no heart for the sabbath, who ask, When will the sabbath be over…that we may sell our grain, and display the wheat?  As we too often do, they see the sabbath as just another day to either make or spend money, instead of a day about resting in and with God, and putting our energies into the things God principally entrusts to us.

I'll confess to you that prior to being reassigned to new parishes with new responsibilities and new routines, I was much better at honoring the Sabbath. I didn't go to stores, but I also didn't go to restaurants. I recall someone saying to me that when we go shopping or eat at restaurants on Sunday, even though we aren't doing servile work, we are obliging others to do so in their service to us. I took that to heart and tried to honor it. I need to do better.

It all begs the question: Is it possible that to the extent we can reclaim the sabbath for its intended purpose, we therefore regain a truer self-identity as human beings, recognizing our inherent worth? And to the extent we regain that self-perspective, is it possible that we come to understand God’s plan for ourselves and all things, including an intentional and compassionate response to the poor?