Demanding
Jul. 1: Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the first reading, Amos warns the Israelites that their hypocrisy will lead to their downfall. In the Gospel, Jesus tries to protect some soft-supporters from becoming hypocrites by explaining just how demanding His way is.
Reading 1
Am 2:6-10, 13-16
Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my holy name. Upon garments taken in pledge they recline beside any altar; And the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their god.
Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, who were as tall as the cedars, and as strong as the oak trees. I destroyed their fruit above, and their roots beneath. It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and who led you through the desert for forty years, to occupy the land of the Amorites.
Beware, I will crush you into the ground as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong man shall not retain his strength; The warrior shall not save his life, nor the bowman stand his ground; The swift of foot shall not escape, nor the horseman save his life. And the most stouthearted of warriors shall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.
The prophet Amos warns the Israelites that they’ve become complacent. They’ve taken to sinning, not only against other but against their own countrymen. And so God reminds them that they only have a country because He chose them. God can just as easily allow them to be defeated.
Which, spoiler alert, is exactly what happens.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 50:16bc-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23
R. (22a) Remember this, you who never think of God.
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
"When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,
and with adulterers you throw in your lot.
To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit."
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
"You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother's son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes."
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
"Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God."
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
Reciting rote prayers isn’t worship.1 We have to actually do the things God commands us to do. Otherwise, we’ll wind up like the Israelites Amos is warning.
Alleluia
Ps 95:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Listening to God’s voice isn’t enough. We have to soft and malleable enough to change our ways based on the words we hear.
Gospel
Mt 8:18-22
When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."
Jesus is very demanding. He doesn’t want us to wind up like the Israelites, paying lip service but not actually following through with our faith. We may have to give up our homes, or even our loved ones. Better to not make promises we can’t keep.
Better still is to make those promises and keep them.
Although they can help focus our minds towards God, as with the rosary.