For July 2
Thursday of the the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time

We need a little background to get the gist of this first reading. Amos was active roughly from 780-740 BC. That’s very early in the prophetic tradition, which makes him the first of what are called the “classical prophets” in the Old Testament. 

At that time—and this is a very important part of biblical history—the territory inhabited by Jews was divided into two kingdoms: Judah in the south and Israel proper in the north, sort of like our country in the Civil War. This division lasted for centuries. At times, the two kingdoms competed against one another, especially when their interests diverged and spilled over into conflicting foreign policies. We hear echoes of this rivalry in the taunting that Amos is subjected to. “Off with you visionary, flee to the land of Judah!” Amaziah yells at Amos, reminding everyone that Amos is coming into Israel as an interloper from Judah. “Mind you own business and go home,” might be a loose translation of Amaziah’s charge.

But I would like to suggest a larger point for our reflection today:How do you distinguish the true prophet from the false? That’s the problem that is behind so much of the prophetic literature in the Bible. Sure, today we know that Amos and Hosea and Jeremiah and Ezekiel were all spokespersons for the voice of God. But how were the people of that time to be convinced that was the case? There were many “prophets” taking opposite positions, but each claiming legitimacy as a divine messenger.

The final editors of the Bible had a big advantage: the perspective of time. They could wait and see which message was confirmed by subsequent events. But the people of the prophet’s own day did not have that luxury. They had to make a judgment on the spot. Who was the authentic voice of God?

So it is with us today. Who are the prophets of our own time, who confront the prevailing political consensus and challenge the choices we have made that govern our lives? I would elect Jerry Falwell for the title “false prophet” when he proclaimed that “911″ was God’s punishment on us for our nation’s tolerance of homosexuality (though Falwell may have later tried to recant this charge). But what about Dorothy Day when she refused to seek shelter in the 1950’s during an air raid drill against a nuclear attack? Or what about Oscar Romero when he spoke out against oppression in El Salvador, although even the Vatican for many decades was uneasy with his alleged sympathy for class welfare advocated by Marxist ideology? I remember a man explaining to me how Donald Trump was being raised up as God chosen instrument, a claim to which I found it difficult to give unqualified approbation.

So who are the true prophets? Even in church history there is a long list of people condemned in their own time but later rehabilitated in later centuries and even raised to sainthood. In fact, their patient endurance is frequently invoked as a sign of their exceptional holiness.

A very productive way to examine one’s conscience is to ask, “Who are my prophets?” The answer may reveal our moral values and even our standing before God. Welcome to the world of the Bible.
—Walter Modrys SJ

Today’s readings can be found on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website.