Matthew 8:18-22

When Jesus saw a crowd around him,

he gave orders to cross to the other shore.

A scribe approached and said to him,

“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,

but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

Another of his disciples said to him,

“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”

But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,

and let the dead bury their dead.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I promise today to heed your call and follow your Son. I cannot do it alone and need the gift of your grace. Your grace, granted through your Son and Spirit, moves me to respond in faith to you and empowers me to do the good works that lead to eternal life.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Amos’ Oracles against the Nations and Israel: Over the next eight weeks our First Reading on weekdays will be taken from eight different prophets – Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel. Three weeks ago, we heard about the prophets Elijah and Elisha, who were sent by the Lord to prophesy to the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the ninth century B.C. The two prophets opposed the idolatrous worship of Baal in Israel and sought to bring Israel to repent and uphold the covenant with the Lord. This week we will read from the Book of Amos. Amos was from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. He was a shepherd and orchard worker. He was not trained to be a prophet, yet the Lord called him and sent him to prophesy in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the year 762 B.C., during the reign of Jeroboam II and forty years before the Assyrian invasion and fall of Israel. What Amos first communicates in his book are eight judgments against the kingdoms (Amos 1:3-2:16). The first seven judgments are on kingdoms – Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and Judah – that were either vassals or allies of Israel. While the other kingdoms are accused of breaches of treaty, war crimes, and violence, the accusation against the Southern Kingdom of Judah concerns offenses against God. At the same time, the judgment against Israel, which is today’s First Reading, is the goal of the entire series (2:6-16). Israel is accused of exploiting the poor and the weak, selling their debtors into slavery, corruption in their courts, committing sexual sins, and falling into idolatry. In contrast to the infidelity and sins of Israel, God was faithful, cared for his people, delivered them from Egypt, gave them the gift of land, and raised up prophets and consecrated Nazirites. Prayer: If God were to judge me right now, what would he say?

2. Israel’s Punishment: In the First Reading, Amos announces Israel’s punishment: “those who crushed the poor into the dust of the earth (2:7) will themselves be crushed into the ground (2:13). ... the swift will be unable to run, the strong become weak, the mighty cannot save even themselves” (Leclerc, Introduction to the Prophets, 131). Today’s Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 50 – reflects on Israel’s infidelity to the covenant. The people profess the covenant with their lips, but, in their hearts, hate the discipline of God’s law and word. Those, however, who truly praise God, who offer praise as a sacrifice are the ones who give God glory. In turn, God shows them the path that leads to salvation. Have I been faithful in my New Covenant relationship with God in Christ?

3. Following Jesus: The Gospel today reveals that following Jesus Christ is the path that truly leads to salvation. We are introduced by Matthew to one of the scribes, a scholar of the Law of Moses, who wants to follow Jesus, but probably doesn’t realize all that this entails. He thinks of Jesus primarily as another teacher and does not grasp that Jesus is more than a teacher. The path of Jesus, the scribe learns, leads to the Cross and entails renunciation. “True discipleship entails a radical change in lifestyle. With an austere itinerant ministry, a disciple may not even have a place to rest his head” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 130). Following Jesus is also more radical than following one of the prophets like Elijah, who allowed his disciple and successor, Elisha, to first say goodbye to his parents before leaving them. Our response to Christ cannot be delayed. “That only the high priest and a group of consecrated Jews known as Nazirites were exempt from the obligation to bury their parents (Lev 21:11; Num 6:6-7) indicates the extraordinary importance of Christ’s call to discipleship. He summons his followers to be set apart in a radical way to serve in God’s kingdom” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 130). Is there anything I am holding on to that keeps me from following Christ?

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I will follow you. I have heard your call to be your disciple, to renounce the things of this passing world, and to identify myself with you on the way to the Cross. Grant me your grace so that I may have the strength to carry my cross today.

Living the Word of God: The Liturgy of the Word is a call to examine our lives and see how we are treating the less fortunate in our communities and a call to follow Jesus more radically and promptly. How am I responding to the gift of God’s grace?