These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 48)
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071624.cfm
The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the patronal feast of the Carmelite Order. Mount Carmel has been a religious site for more than 3,000 years. It is famous for its association with the Prophets Elijah and Elisha. In Colombia, Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the patronal feast of taxi drivers and public transportation.
Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies, octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load. When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more,
I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow. (Is 1:10-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071524.cfm
It wasn’t that the nation wasn’t religious. On the contrary, it was super religious . . . but its hands were full of blood, as the prophet says. How to become clean? Learn to do good, make justice your aim, redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow. Justice and the corporal works of mercy are not optional. They are the sine qua non of being religious. Saint Bonaventure teaches the church that we ought use the brains God gave us in order to understand the world around us and praise the Creator.
Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos, “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” (Am 7:12-15)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071424.cfm
The prophet Amos had no theological degree, no training. The only qualification Amos had is the call received from God. If God can speak through Amos, God can speak through each one of us. As the old priest used to say, “God calls whom God wills.” Maybe we need to listen up.
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft. They cried one to the other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. (Is 6:1-6)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071324.cfm
The Call of the Prophet Isaiah begins with this vision of the Lord and the seraphim. The song of the seraphim is echoed in the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) of the Eucharist. In one sense the liturgy on earth unites with the liturgy of heaven in one chorus of endless praise.
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.” I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; They shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. (Hos 14:2-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071224.cfm
We come to the conclusion of the prophecy of Hosea with this promise of restoration. In the prophets, returning to God never means doing “churchy” things, but rather to do the work of justice so that the orphan finds compassion.
