Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
In today’s first reading from the book of the prophet Amos, we hear about God’s intentions to restore the people of Israel to their greatness, but we must understand that this reading comes from the very end of the book of Amos. Earlier, Amos impugns the Israelites for their lack of faithfulness to God and warns them of coming destruction. Indeed, Assyria would conquer Israel (the Northern Kingdom) in 721 BC, shortly after Amos’s prophetic career. Nevertheless, we are presented with this oracle of hope at the end of the book of Amos (Am 9:12). This word of hope, of peace in the moments of utter terror, stands in sharp contrast to the warring empire of Assyria that was coming to conquer Israel as a result of Israel’s disobedience to the covenant. Assyria left fear and trembling in its wake. God promises peace in the moment of desolation. But, we must ask, what is the manner in which Israel will be restored? Since Amos was speaking to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, God’s promise of restoration comes to them with something of a surprise – one they wouldn’t be happy about. The restoration includes both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, but it will be centered on Jerusalem – a Southern city. Since the split between the two kingdoms, there was much disagreement between them and much of it was centered on the importance given to the city of Jerusalem. The Northerners to whom Amos is speaking didn’t expect Jerusalem to be a part of God’s saving work, and would have been shocked to hear the word of God promising it to be so central.
What can we learn from all of this today?
First, we can say that we have a God who keeps his promises and, in the words of today’s psalm, “proclaims peace to His people” (Ps 85: 9-10). He is a loving God, who gives us hope for coming peace, even if we are part of, or the victim of, a warring empire.
Secondly, we can say that God’s ways are not our own. Our expectations and plans are often shattered by God, often to bring about greater good. How many of us have had our carefully-laid plans deeply disrupted, only to find greater joy in the entirely unexpected situation? Often this joy comes on the other side of much distress. We learn something here about how God works.
Indeed, God’s bringing about the salvation of his people through the person of Jesus was expected, insofar as there was a history of promises of a Messiah to come to God’s people. But the manner in which Jesus brought about this salvation was very different from many expectations. This is the word, too, that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel passage from Mark. The Kingdom that Jesus preached didn’t fit as neatly as some hoped with Jewish expectations – the new isn’t simply poured upon the old but is new in its entirety. This newness of God’s work throws fresh light on what God has done in the past so that the past must be re-read through it. Thus, we read the Old Testament in light of the New. We read the prophets in light of Jesus.
We can be confident in expecting God to work. But today’s Scripture readings teach us to be less confident in our own neatly arranged plans of how exactly God will work.
- Timothy Gabrielli