In today’s first
reading, Amos 3: 1-8; 4: 11-12, the Lord says to us through the prophet:
“You alone (the Chosen People of
Israel) have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; therefore I
will punish you for all your crimes…..I brought upon you (allowed) such
upheaval when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: you were like a brand plucked
from the fire (not all of Israel was destroyed in the burning lava); yet you
returned not to me, says the Lord. …[P]repare to meet your God, O Israel.”
Those words sound so harsh! A
merciful, loving God, we ask!
Let us personalize the
passage. Hear God saying: “You…,” [Dorothy-- put your name here],
have I favored…; therefore I will punish [chastise] you for all your crimes [sins/transgressions].” Is God a punishing God? I don’t think so. I
believe that God is my parent who loves me. Any good, responsible, loving
parent, I believe, will chastise his/her child, let that child know when he/she
is doing wrong and place consequences on poor behavior. Why? Because any parent
who loves his/her children wants them to
grow up strong and trustworthy, adherents of good, at peace with
themselves as the result of making good
decisions, satisfying themselves by doing good in the world around them, making
the world they live in a better place pleasing to their Creator God, to others
and to themselves.
Do I realize that when I make poor
choices that consequences follow accordingly, as when I make good choices. That
is true for individuals, for society, for governments, municipalities, civic
and ecclesial authorities and so on; in short for all humankind! Am I learning from the evil that I experience
when I follow evil spirits? Am I grateful for the good I experience when I make
wise choices in accord with the good that exists within me?
We are here to carry on the work
of the Lord—contributing to God’s Kingdom here on earth as modeled for us by
Jesus in the Gospels. How faithful am I to the purpose for which God put me
here on earth?
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