25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
AMOS 8:4-7
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the refuse of the wheat?”
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.”
Amos lived around 750 BC. He was born in Tekoa, about twenty kilometers from Jerusalem, but he carried out his ministry in the Northern Kingdom. He was not part of any prophetic community (his occupation was that of a farmer, or perhaps a shepherd); he is a prophet by divine inspiration, not by profession.
He is a contemporary of Hosea and carries out his ministry during a time of prosperity (the reign of Jeroboam II) but also of great corruption, both religious (idolatry) and socio-moral (abuses by the wealthy).
The denunciation of the wealthy exploiting the poor is one of the strong themes of his preaching (and in this he also resembles Hosea, although in Hosea this theme is less developed).
The text we read today is linked this Sunday to the traps of the dishonest manager, the “protagonist” of the parable in the Gospel of Luke. (The greater or lesser appropriateness of this connection would be good material for discussion.)
1 TIMOTHY 2:1-8
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all: the testimony to which was borne at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.
We continue with the continuous reading of this letter, which we began last Sunday. One of the concerns of the letter is to dictate concrete norms for the life of the community, and in the first part of this passage we see some of them, aimed at prayer for the rulers. Afterwards, a doctrinal paragraph follows, presenting Jesus as mediator (“the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all”).
The paragraph in some way justifies prayer for rulers, who are not Christians, by the will of God “who desires all men to be saved,” and by the universal mediation of Jesus, and even by the mission of Paul himself, who redefines himself as a preacher of the faith to the Gentiles.
As almost always, there is no connection between this text and the other two.
José Enrique Galarreta