Tim Greenway:Jesus4OurWorld: I desire mercy, not sacrifice

Welcome to my blog.

The Catholic Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, provides us each day with a continuous reading from the Sacred Scriptures. Through them, the Lord Jesus gives us spiritual nourishment. As a result, our lives become meaningful and a joy to ourselves and others. Let us put aside some time each day to prayerfully reflect on God’s Word.

I give them here with a short reflection of my own.

I pray that you may find God speaking to you and find strength and solace in life’s journey.

Friday 3 July 2018

I desire mercy, not sacrifice

Ps 46: 2

All peoples, clap your hands.

Cry to God with shouts of joy!

Prayer

Father in heaven, in Baptism you recreated us

in Jesus as your children and we became

children of light in a world of darkness.

Grant that we may never go back to the darkness

of unbelief and error, but remain for ever in the light of your truth.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus, our Lord.

____________________

First reading

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 ·

I will send famine upon the land: not a famine of bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord.

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 display the wheat?”

We will diminish the containers for measuring,

add to the weights,

and fix our scales for cheating!

We will buy the lowly man for silver,

and the poor man for a pair of sandals;

even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!”

On that day, says the Lord God,

I will make the sun set at midday

and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight.

I will turn your feasts into mourning

and all your songs into lamentations.

I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth

and make every head bald.

I will make them mourn as for an only son,

and bring their day to a bitter end.

Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God,

when I will send famine upon the land:

Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water,

but for hearing the word of the Lord.

Then shall they wander from sea to sea

and rove from the north to the east

In search of the word of the Lord,

but they shall not find it.

THE WORD OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

Amos is preaching in the northern kingdom of Israel at a time of prosperity for the rich and powerful. They have forgotten the Covenant and the Law of Moses and possessed by a desire for wealth, they exploit the poor and weak. They are unconcerned except for themselves.

Amos doesn’t know how God is going to settle scores. He only knows that one day he will. That day will be a day of grief for those who have treated others unjustly, for those who have been unconcerned about the physical sufferings of others, for those who have just looked for their own pleasure and comfort. He uses figurative language to describe that day. We are not to take it literally but to understand the underlying message and act on it.

If we want to avoid the ultimate tragedy when human beings will be given the deserts for their lives of indifference and selfishness, then we must act now. We must see each human being as precious to God and so to us. This is regardless of race, colour or religion. The sufferings of others must become our sufferings. We too must feel their suffering and reach out to them in love. This is to love others as we love ourselves. Life will become painful for us too and we will never have excess wealth and comfort. But we will be true children of God. Are you such a believer?

True religion is in the market place, not only in a church/prayer hall/ mosque/temple.

Psalm

Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131