Corpus Christi Blog

Today we are going to spend our time unpacking our 1st reading where we gain a deeper understanding of God calling shepherds to guide his people, Jeremiah is prophesying at a time when Jerusalem was about to be taken over by the Babylonians- this would be last time the great Temple city would belong to the Jews.  Jeremiah was lamenting over the kings of Israel who have not protected or cared for God’s people and have thus let the capital city be overrun and God’s people to be scattered.  And he warns them that God will hold them accountable for not being a good shepherd or king.  God was saddened that the kings did not rule His people the way He had appointed them to, and God was saddened that His people are going to be scattered once again.

In our 1st reading from the Prophet Amos, Amos is being persecuted for warning the king about the troubles that will come to him if he continues to live for himself and not obey the Lord.  Amos humbly admits that he is not like the other great prophets, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel whom God called from an early age to speak His words.  Instead, Amos says that that He was a common man, who like many other people- was a shepherd and did other kinds of jobs to make a living, but the Lord called him to prophesy to the Lord’s people Israel.  So to Amos, the Lord called an ordinary man to do a special task- to be a voice for God.  Being called to be a Prophet was a great and honoring calling, even though it came with great responsibility, and often times- persecution.

We celebrate the 4th of July, the day we as a United States of America gained our independence.  And so on this Independence Day weekend, we give thanks to those who have served in the military and everyone, especially God, who has made it possible for us to have the freedoms and liberties which we enjoy.   We should be proud and thankful to be an American, we enjoy many opportunities that others  living in other countries do not experience.   However at the same time we need to be very much concerned.  Truly our founding fathers established this great country on Christian faith, and desired there to be religious liberty as a right of every American.  However, that right is being taken away from us, and we no longer live in a Christian nation.