(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
We celebrate the prophet Amos in the Word of God among us this week. Next week we shall have the opportunity to hear from a contemporary of Amos, the prophet Hosea.
Were Amos in our presence today and were we in chapel or church celebrating Mass, he might send us home, saying, “What are you people doing here? Got out of here. I hate, I spurn your celebrations!”
We should probably reply, “What have we done? We are here to celebrate all that the Lord has done for us. We have come because the Lord has told us to do this in memory of him.
Amos would probably respond, “Got out of here, you people are sick!”
Amos is talking to us. For him, it is not about how society treats people different from it, or how society treats minority groups, or how society welcomes refugees and those seeking asylum. No, for him the question is, “How does each one of us treat other people, welcome other people, and go out to other people?”
Our behavior as a society mimics our behavior as individuals. It is not enough that we call out other groups of people or other individuals for their behavior, it is more important that each call out self for his or her bad behavior.
I may think that Black Lives Matter because all lives matter, but my actions about black people reflect more the truth of my life. I may think we should fix our immigration system, but my actions with new comers into my life say more the truth about me. I may want us as a society to give people seeking asylum a place of safety, but my actions in welcoming needy people into my own life say more about the truth in me than what I say does.
I have a choice. I can go home because the prophet tells me to or I can stay because I repent of my egoism. It is better not to call out society, but to “let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream” in my life. If I change, society will have changed at least a little.