THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Monday of week 13 Year II

Amos 2:6-10.13-16

Ps 50

Matt 8:18-22

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

They trample the head of the poor...

The Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of the most popular representations of our Lady. The Icon shows the Blessed Virgin Mary wearing a dark red dress, which represents the passion of Jesus, and with a blue mantel representing her perpetual virginity. She has on a cloaked veil representing her modesty. On the left side is the Archangel Michael bearing the cross, the symbol of the passion of Christ and on the right is the Archangel Gabriel, carrying a pot of the lance, the instrument of Christ’s torture. The star on Mary's head signifies her title as the Star of the Sea. Mary remains a source of help to every Christian all through life, just as the picture depicts an adult Jesus in the loving arms of the Mother.

In the first reading of today (Amos 2:6-10.13-16) Amos was a prophet of the Assyrian period and comes from a little town called Tekoa, south of Jerusalem. He was a man who looked after his flocks and also tended sycamore trees. He received a 'prophetic call' to preach to the Northern Kingdom during the reign of Jeroboam II. This period was that of prosperity in the Northern Kingdom but that wealth was not well distributed; it was in the hands of a few—the merchants and traders, while the peasants and workers remained poor and oppressed. Injustice was the order of the day. People were going to the temple and offering sacrifices, but that was not the kind of sacrifice God was looking for. Amos had ‘culture—shock’ on coming to the city. He saw affluence in the city, while villagers were in abject poverty. His message was therefore directed at the injustice in the land.

The first reading, therefore, opens with, "For the three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes—they that trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and turn aside the way of the afflicted…" Three or four transgressions is an expression that refers to an uncountable number. God threatened to punish their offenses for not treating the poor of the land well. This warning is still relevant for our time. Wherever the conditions that necessitated the mission of Amos exists, there is a warning too. What is the worth of the other person to you? Is your business done with the aim of your gain only and not also the interest of your workers and your customers? God demands that we be fair in the way we treat other people, particularly the less privileged ones in society. When Jesus says, “follow me” in the Gospel, that is the best way to be his disciple.

Let us pray: We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God, despise not our prayers in our necessities but deliver us from every evil. Amen.

Happy Feast of our Mother of Perpetual Help!

+Remain blessed