Meaningful Worship

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Those that offer praise as a sacrifice glorify me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23)

This last verse of today's responsorial psalm captures the tenor and meaning of the passage from the Prophet Amos which is assigned to Monday of the 13^th week in Ordinary Time.

Amos's style of preaching reminds me of the phrase, "the straw that broke the camel's back." The first chapters of Amos contain a series of indictments against the cities of Israel. "For three crimes of . . . and now four. . ." In other words, these people have persisted in their crimes against God and the weight of their guilt will now crush them. The last of these indictments, from which we read today, denounces Israel for completely turning its back on the Sinai covenant. They have turned their backs on the poor, and they have turned to other gods. They have failed to love God and to love their neighbor, the heart of the Law. This is not to say that they have abandoned the rituals of the Temple. Throughout Amos' preaching, the priests have continued to offer the prescribed sacrifices. However, their worship is empty because they have not kept the commandments. Psalms 50 and 51 take up this fact very clearly. God does not need ritual sacrifices. The way to praise and glorify God is to live out our baptismal commitment.

The lectionary is making a transition today from the history of Israel to the prophets. It should be remembered that the prophets were active during the histories that we just completed reading. They are chronologically parallel. For the next eight weeks, as we listen to the voices of the Old Testament prophets, we will be challenged to examine our own lives and our own worship. It is important that we remember that prayer and sacrifice are only one part of our relationship to God. How we treat our neighbors is just as important as the amount of time we spend with the Lord.