Scripture Meditation for July 2, Ordinary Time, a Wednesday.

Scripture: Amos 5:14-15,21-24. Psalm 50:7.8-9.10-11.12-13.16-17. Matthew
8:28-34. Lectionary # 379:

Justice and holiness are the themes of both Amos and the Psalm that
is our response to Amos. Then in the Gospel we see Jesus liberating two
men from the shackles of the demons. They are in Gentile territory, the
territory of the Gadarenes, and the demonic spirits ask to enter into a
herd of swine which are considered unclean by the Israelites and Jesus.
Mark has only one man so possessed and presents a very colorful and
dramatic exorcism compared to the more sober style of Matthew. We may
wonder about the differeces we see from Gospel to Gospel and from story to
story in both the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures. We must
remember that the Bible is the word of God but it is written by human
authors who are borrowing from oral traditions, creating their own
redactions, and have their own individual slant on the stories, thus there
are dissimilarities as well as many similarities. The Bible is not
dictated into the ears of these writers, rather it is the genius of the
individual inspired author cooperating with the Holy Spirit of God.
Augustine himself in the fifth century had to explain this to his
listeners:"So if you think there are contradictions in Saint Paul, you will
find the same in the Gospels; but if you refrain from troubling the waters
of your heart, you will recognize here the peace of the Scriptures and with
it you will have peace." (Sermon 47,14).
In Amos the message continues to be one against leaders who are
unfair toward those who work the fields for them--the poor. Social justice
is what is being professed openly against them by Amos. He is speaking
directly for God. He calls them to conversion and not simply pretending
they are doing God's will by offering ritualistic sacrifices. The
sacrifice God wants is a contrite heart and a cleansing of these evil
practices so that they can again live out the covenant in God's love,
generosity, and kindness.
We too are called to listen to Amos and the message of freedom given
in the Gospel. Our behavior at worship and prayer should come from a heart
that is clear and cleansed in the Presence of God. God is to be the center
of our lives. This prevents our prayer from being a mere show or a display
of words that are different from our behavior. "If today you hear God's
voice, harden not your hearts." (Psalm 95). Amen.