1st Reading, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From: Amos 7:12-15

Dispute with Amaziah
[12] And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there; [13] but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

[14] Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, [15] and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
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Commentary:
7:1-9:10. This section is the third part of the book. It consists of five visions, with a doxology that comes near the end (9:5-6). Mixed in are some interesting details about Amos and his teaching -- the account of his call (7:14-15), a dramatic description of the "day of the Lord” (8:9-14), etc. The passage ends with an announcement of punishment (9:7-10) that serves to underscore the optimism of the final oracle, which is about future restoration.

Most of this passage is taken up with the "five visions of Amos”; these are written to a fairly fixed pattern, in a mixture of prose and verse. The visions mean that Amos' ministry includes that of "seer” as well as prophet. The message of the visions is clear: the Lord cannot be appeased by external, schismatic rites that fail to touch men's hearts or move them to conversion.

7:7-17. The vision of the plumb line (vv. 7-9) exposes the rottenness within the people. They are not level, not right; when they are checked, they are found to be askew (v. 7). From now on, the Lord is not going to overlook their infidelities; what is out of line will be destroyed (v. 9). That may be why the prophet no longer intercedes; he simply notes something that will happen inexorably.

The vision is followed by an account of Amos' altercation with Amaziah, the priest of the sanctuary of Bethel (vv. 10-17). Amaziah, a supporter of King Jeroboam, sees in Amos a prophet who is only going to cause trouble in the kingdom: he has no interest in trying to understand Amos' message -- which in fact exposes injustices and deceit to which Amaziah is party.

Amaziah calls Amos a "seer” (a translation of one of the Hebrew terms used to designate a prophet). But Amos does not regard himself as a prophet in the normal sense, a "son of a prophet” (v. 14), that is, a member of a group or fraternity of prophets, of which there were many in Israel, at least from the time of King Saul onwards (cf. 1 Sam 10:10-13; 19:20-24), nor is he an "official” prophet, a member of the staff of the royal household. Amos' reply is clear: he is a herdsman and a dresser of sycamores. But the Lord sent him to "prophesy” to Israel (v. 15). Amos, then, was an ordinary man (not a prophet, not a priest) who was commissioned by the Lord, out of the blue, to proclaim a message. A call from God is something so imperative that no one should refuse it (cf. 3:8), but at the same time it gives meaning and strength to the person's life: it confers on him a sense of authority even over institutions such as temple and king. He therefore has the last word (v. 17): "God's calling gives us a mission: it invites us to share in the unique task of the Church, to bear witness to Christ before our fellow men and so draw all things toward God. Our calling discloses to us the meaning of our existence. It means being convinced, through faith, of the reason for our life on earth. Our life -- present, past and future -- acquires a new dimension, a depth we did not perceive before. All happenings and events now fall within their true perspective: we understand where God is leading us, and we feel ourselves borne along by this task entrusted to us” (St Josemaria Escrivá, "Christ is Passing By", 45).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.