Today in the older Roman Martyrology it is the Feast of the Old Testament Prophet Amos.
Many of the Old Testament figures are considered saints and they have feast days, quite a few in Advent (for obvious reasons) but also at other times of the year, scattered around.
In honor of SAINT Amos the Old Testament Prophet, we can look at something that St. Augustine of Hippo penned, commenting on Amos 3:1-8 and 4:11-12. The chosen people have been unfaithful and God will punish them. Amos poses rhetorical questions about their behavior and God’s response.
Amos says:
Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?…
The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”…
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
Augustine expands on Amos’s lion (s. 55.3):
”Lord, You have been our refuge.” Therefore we have recourse to You. Our healing shall be from You, for our evil is from ourselves. Because we have abandoned You, You have abandoned us to ourselves. May we therefore be found in You, for in ourselves we had been lost. “Lord, You have been our refuge.” Why, my brethren, should we doubt that the Lord will make us gentle if we submit ourselves to be tamed by him? You have tamed the lion, which you did not create. Will your Creator be unable to tame you? What is the source of your power to tame such savage beasts? Are you their equal in bodily strength? By what power then have you been able to tame such huge beasts? The so-called beasts of burden are wild by nature, for it untamed they could not be endured. But because you are not accustomed to see them except when handled by men and under the curb and control of men, you might think that they were born tame. At any rate, consider the savage beasts. The lion roars; who does not fear? And yet, whence your knowledge of the fact that you are more powerful? Not in bodily strength but in the inner reason of your mind. You are more powerful than a lion, because you have been made the image of God. The image of God tames a wild beast. Is God unable to tame His own image?
A good point of reflection for Lent.
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