Thursday
of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Amos
7:10-17; Matthew 9:1-8)
Martin
Luther King is revered today by almost everyone. In his lifetime, however, he was reviled by
many white people. They saw him as a
troublemaker and opportunist. Although King
predicted his assassination, people thought he enjoyed dictating terms to
presidents. King suffered the fate of prophets
in Israel as today’s first reading makes clear.
Amos lived
in the southern kingdom of Judah. He was
not trained as a prophet but as a horticulturalist when God called him
northwards. There he denounced neglect of the poor as well as idolatry. His prophecies made him undesirable in the
eyes of the northern establishment.
We have
need for prophets today. Although every
person who criticizes social structures does not speak on behalf of God, some point
out genuine deviation from God’s will. A
true prophetic concern has arisen where state has allowed for
physician-assisted suicide. It is
reported that in some hospitals the elderly sick are being encouraged to sign
on for the procedure. Suicide, like
murder, is a grave disorder. Assisting
in it should be decried and prohibited.
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