July 20: The Word of the Lord Came to Micah

From today’s Mass: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what the Lord require of you – to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6,6-8

In a flash of inspiration, because the Word of the Lord came to him, the prophet Micah states what God really wants of us. But first he says what God does NOT want: not holocausts, nor thousands of sacrificial lambs, for none of these externals can replace the personal attitudes of the soul. Then, memorably, Micah declares what the Lord really requires of us: “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

It might be true that this reading from the prophet Micah is easily understood and speaks tenderly to our hearts, but did you know that the scene provided by the prophet is that of a courtroom and of people (the people of God) on trial? The Lord lodges a legal complaint against His people; the witnesses are the surrounding mountains and hills. The evidence against God’s people is presented, the Lord summons them to listen to His accusation and to prepare their defense against the charges, and the Lord speaks poignantly in reminding them of His gracious acts on their behalf. The people respond by asking what compensation they need to pay for their sins. Then God, through the mouth of His prophet, tells them what He expects.

As we have seen, the reading ends with one of the most lovely sentences in the whole of the Bible, one which perhaps we have heard quoted, but never knew where it came from: “This is what the Lord asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.” Everything is contained here; it covers both the teaching of the Old and the New Testaments on how we should behave. The challenge we face every day is: can we live like this? can we treat others with justice, in deep respect, giving to each person what is their right and their due? can we lived a life filled with love? can we live in a way that is deeply united in prayer with our God? And then, of course, each of these questions has a companion question: will we?

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