Go, prophesy!

In today's first reading there is the most wonderful passage.  Amos, a shepherd, is sent to prophesy to King Amaziah, and the king tells him to "never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple."  He basicly accuses Amos of being one of those slick, "professional" prophets who needs to sell his wares someplace else. 

And Amos replies in all simplicity and perhaps a bit apologetically,

"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."

Amos is not the picture of a professional prophet.  He is a shepherd who probably shared the smell of his sheep.  He was minding his own business, so to speak, when God called him.  To be a prophet is a scary thing.  We are all prophets in some way to one another.  And some of us are the most unlikely prophets we can imagine.  But God speaks through us even when we don't realize it.

YOU might be the mom who screeches up to the curb for morning Mass and slides open the door to reveal several kids putting their socks and shoes on as they tumble out of the van like a clown car at the circus.  Or so YOU think.  But you might just be prophesying to the people heading in to Mass that God wants us to "welcome children lovingly and willingly" from His hand. And you think it so important to get them to daily Mass that you offered most of the energy you had that day just to put them in the van and get them to the table of the Lord to feed their souls.  People see that!

YOU might be the elderly gentleman who wakes up sore and creaky in the joints, but you go in to the food pantry and stock shelves for an hour or so.  You are prophesying to the young that the poor are always with us and we are never too old to stop serving. 

YOU may be the family that quietly prays grace when you are in a restaurant, even as your youngest spills his milk on the table.  You are prophesying that there is something so much greater than this world to honor and worry about.  And the world is watching.  

YOU may be a young college student far from the rules of your Catholic home, and someone offers you a T Bone steak on a Friday in Lent and you say "I can't. I am a Catholic"  You are prophesying that your faith is real to you and your promises to God are REAL, even when your parents aren't watching.  

We don't feel like prophets.  I don't think Amos did either. But he did what he was told.  "Go, prophesy!"  And we might not get much of a reaction from the world we live in  as we feel so unlikely to move and shake it up.  Nothing slick or amazing about us, most of the time we are flying by the seat of our pants, we aren't grand or speak powerfully. We just need to do what He says.  And the less we look like professional prophets, the louder the message God wants to send through us comes through.   

And the world awaits.  Go, prophesy!