Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time [II]
Amos 7:10-17  +  Matthew 9:1-8
July 5, 2018

“The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”

Amos, the Old Testament prophet from whose book we hear in today’s First Reading, was considered obnoxious because he preached the need of repentance on the part of everyone in Israel, including the king and the priests.  Amaziah tried to get the king to get rid of Amos:  not only because he took offense at Amos’ preaching, but also because he held Amos in contempt.

Amaziah considered Amos a “nobody”.  Amos actually admitted that he was not a prophet in his own right.  Nor did he belong to the official guild of prophets, which was a considerably large group.  Amos was just a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.  On top of that, Amos was not even from Israel:  he was from the southern land of Judah, which had not yet been combined with Israel into one kingdom.  So he was a foreigner in Israel.

But in spite of all appearances, Amos had credentials of the highest order.  It was the Lord Himself who had taken Amos from the south, to be a prophet in the north.  Amos’ worth was not due to his own wisdom.  It was due only to the fact that the Lord had called him.  As the old saying goes, “God does not call those who are qualified.  He qualifies those whom He calls.”

In other words, we trust that when the Lord gives us a job to do, He’s also going to give us the grace needed to complete that job.  This is true of any small, daily job the Lord might hand one of His sons or daughters.  God probably has such a job in mind for you this day.  So expect that job, but also trust that God will grant you the grace to complete it.