Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Amos 8:4-6.9-12; Matthew 9:9-13)
The two Scripture readings today go together nicely. In the first Amos chastises businessmen for thinking
of profits and not the Lord on the sabbath.
The prophet promises that they will regret their avarice when business
goes south. Then they will look for the
Lord but will have trouble finding him.
The gospel shows the Lord reaching out to tax collectors, a
kind of businessman, and their responding enthusiastically. Jesus first calls the tax collector Matthew who
closes his books immediately to follow him.
He then shares a meal with the fast crowd comprising Matthew’s friends. They will not just talk about commodity
prices but eventually discuss conversion to justice.
We are hardly like the businessmen that Amos and Matthew tell
of today. Yet we may let our minds drift
during worship. Worse than that, we may
allow our lives to be guided by stars other than that of the Christ. We too must keep our ears open for God’s word
and our eyes open for opportunities to put it into practice.
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