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Jessie BazanSSOT 412May 7, 2015

Campus Ministry Social Justice Retreat: An Afternoon with Amos 5:18-24

The separation of faith and justice happens far too often in college campus ministry

offices. The liturgy team stays in the church, planning Masses and prayer services, while the

social outreach team stays on the streets, handing out sandwiches and advocating for women’s

rights. Such separation is indicative of a much larger misunderstanding that dates back to the

earliest days of religion. The Israelites are reprimanded countless times throughout the Old

Testament for not taking seriously their responsibilities to both faith and justice. Often, it was the

justice ministry that fell to the wayside in favor of elaborate — and ultimately empty — worship

rituals. What seemed to be missing then — and is still missing in many campus ministry offices

today — is a solid integration of the two. This project uses Amos 5:18-24 as a framework to

advocate that worship and justice are inseparable. True worship always seeks justice and true

justice is always nourished by worship.

In an effort to actively engage students in this understanding, I have created a new

afternoon session for the Saint John’s Campus Ministry Reveal Sophomore Service Retreat

centered on Amos 5:18-24. Briefly, this annual retreat seeks to engage second year students in

service and reflection. The group typically spends a Saturday morning at service sites around

Minneapolis and then reconvenes for various student witness talks and small group discussions. I

plan to run the afternoon session somewhat differently when I am directing it next year. As is

detailed below, I will first offer a historical account of Amos 5:18-24, particularly looking at the

social inequalities and cultic worship practices addressed in the passage. I will then explore “the

world the text creates,” or how the meaning this passage had in the past relates to the meaning it

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has for our community today. Afterwards, students will transition into a service experience of a

particular justice issue. To debrief upon return, students will develop a liturgy to ritualize what

they just experienced — and further demonstrate the interconnectedness of worship and justice.

First to set the context for the afternoon, I want to convey to my students some

background information about this passage in focus. The prophet Amos preached during a time

of intense economic growth — and resulting disparity — in Israel and Judah. Scholar Norman

Gottwald argues that Amos could be “reacting against the change from the communitarian ideals

and social structure of early Israel to a tributary mode of production, which arose with the

monarchy and led to unjust social relations of production and the unequal distribution of

wealth.”1 As interregional and international trade enterprises began to thrive, there arose a

“growth of large estates in the hands of a minority class of landowners.”2 This shift in power

created a wider gap between the rich and the poor. Corrupt business practices occurred regularly

as wealthy landowners worked to maximize profits and sustain their lives of “leisure and

luxury.”3 The unfair market conditions left peasants in dire debt. Many Israelites, however,

seemed woefully ignorant of the corruption they were causing.

The Israelites were a religious people. As such, they “felt that their lavish cult ensured its

peaceful relation with its deity, just as modern worshippers sometimes believe that going to

church always puts them right with God.”4 The issue for the Israelites was not neglect of their

worship. They were immersed in great festivals (5:21) and sacrifices (5:22). The issue was their

1 M. Daniel Carroll R., Amos—The Prophet and His Oracles (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 23. For more on Gottwald’s argument, see Norman K. Gottwald, “A Hypothesis about Social Class in Monarchic Israel in the Light of Contemporary Studies of Social Class and Social Stratification,” in The Hebrew Bible in Its Social World and in Ours (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993), 139-164.

2 The New Interpreter’s Dictionary, s.v., “Amos, Book of.” 3 Ibid. 4 Elizabeth Achtemeier, New International Biblical Commentary: Minor Prophets I (Peabody, MA:

Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 210.

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worship was not propelling them to act on behalf of the poor, as God intended.5 To use a modern

idiom, the Israelites were talking the talk, but they were not walking the walk. As scholar Reed

Lessing observes, “By the first half of the eighth century B.C. leaders in the Northern Kingdom

of Israel had grown accustomed to the nation’s theological language to the point that they were

no longer able to hear its startling claims.”6 God’s urgent calls to care for the poor fell on

unconcerned ears. They figured they are God’s chosen people. Going through the ritual motions

is enough, right?

The rich saw their wealth as a favorable sign from God. The affluent Israelites did not

understand that their riches actually did not indicate favor with God. In fact it was much the

opposite, as these people were the target of God’s wrath because of their disregard for the poor.7

Cultic worship practices became twisted from their original intent. The covenant between God

and Israel is such that if the Israelites keep the covenant, then as a result they will be acting

righteously and will be blessed. Instead, the people were acting righteous on their own in an

attempt to achieve the covenant. The result was an “adoption of norms which contradicted the

original goals set forth by God.”8 Amos 5:18-24 describes in vivid detail God’s fury at the

Israelites’ vain worship practices which show no regard for the poor. Amos writes that God

“hates” and “despises” their worship festivals (5:21). God is so repulsed that he will not accept

or even look at their sacrificial offerings (5:22). To be clear, Amos is not denouncing cultic

worship in its entirety. Worship is an absolutely integral aspect of faith. Rightly-ordered worship

is the primary way individuals and the community express praise and thanksgiving to God. What

Amos denounces is “perverted and syncretistic usages of the cult” and “an empty cult where the 5 Achtemeier, Minor Prophets, 211. 6 Reed Lessing, “Upsetting the Status Quo: Preaching Like Amos,” Concordia 33, no. 3 (July 2007): 286,

accessed March 22, 2015. 7 Charles L. Aaron Jr., Preaching Hosea, Amos, & Michah (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2005), 53. 8 Donoso S. Escobar, “Social Justice in the Book of Amos,” Review and Expositor 92 (1995): 170, accessed

March 22, 2015.

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worshippers participate automatically at the same time they ignore the ethical and social

commandments of Yahweh.”9 Amos’s main message for the Israelites was that true worship

must seek justice. God will not be pleased with anything less.

Amos’s message that worship must seek justice continues to resound throughout history

and into the modern day. Christ’s commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” is inseparable from his

commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.”10 Relationships with God are always

intertwined with relationships with other people, as “we cannot love God if we do not also love

our neighbor.”11 Like Amos preaches in chapter five, Christ is saying that the people must honor

God’s call to seek justice if they expect to have an honest relationship with God in worship.

More recently, the development of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) has affirmed many of

the major calls for social justice found in Amos. Care for the poor is of utmost concern for

Amos. Privilege and responsibility go hand-in-hand, Amos reminds the Israelites. Being God’s

chosen people necessitates action on behalf of the poor and vulnerable.12 Justice must “roll down

like waters” (5:24). CST offers similar demands for justice for the poor. For instance, Pope Paul

VI invites Christians to recognize the more global issue of poverty in Populorum Progressio.13

He says people cannot be ignorant about poverty anymore. Access to needs should not just

depend on charity. It should be institutionalized, Paul VI argues. His more systematic thoughts

continue in Octogesima Adveniens, where Paul VI introduces the term “preferential option for

9 Hans M. Barstad, The Religious Polemics of Amos (Netherlands: Leiden E.J. Brill, 1984), 112. 10 Mark 12:29-31 11 Achtemeier, Minor Prophets, 212. 12 Douglas Beyer, “Preaching from Amos,” Southwestern Journal of Theology (1995): 37, accessed March

22, 2015. 13 Pope Paul VI, “Populorum Progressio: On the Development of Peoples,” in Catholic Social Thought:

The Documentary Heritage, ed. David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010), sec. 45.

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the poor” for the first time in a papal encyclical.14 The phrase means that whenever we are given

a choice, we should choose the option that best serves those people in greatest need. He looks

beyond charity and urges society to address the larger systemic issues that perpetuate poverty, so

that poor people will not be in their situations forever. Further, Justitia in Mundo notes that it is

the church’s responsibility to promote justice and fight against injustices. The Synod of Bishops

says the church cannot be a church of the rich. It must be a church of the poor.15 John Paul II

continues to build on the more global Christian responsibility to the poor in Centesimus Annus

by urging people to see the poor not as a burden, but as an opportunity to express kindness.16

CST is filled with countless other calls for justice for the poor. Like Amos, these teachings

demand a serious awakening to the realities of injustice and a swift response. If the people do not

respond, the Day of the Lord will be as horrifying “as if someone fled from a lion, and was met

by a bear” (5:19).

Additionally throughout his book, Amos announces “God’s expectation that all people

will be respected and treated fairly, will be taken care of, and will have the opportunity to

contribute to the community.”17 Righteousness for all must be present “like an ever-flowing

stream” (5:24). Catholic Social Teaching labels this expectation for respect as “human dignity.”

The dignity of the human person is the core tenant of Catholic Social Teaching. It is the starting

point from which the Catholic Church talks about everything from human rights to the

preferential option for the poor. At its most basic level, CST teaches that each person has

14 Pope Paul VI, “Octogesima Adveniens: A Call to Action,” in Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, ed. David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010), sec. 23.

15 Synod of Bishops, “Justitia in Mundo: Justice in the World,” in Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, ed. David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010), sec. 47.

16 Pope John Paul II, “Centesimus Annus: On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum,” in Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, ed. David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010), 58.

17 Aaron, Preaching Hosea, Amos and Micah, 63.

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inherent human dignity because each person is made in the image of God. It is argued in

Gaudium et Spes that humans are like God in that we are able to enter into loving relationships in

ways similar to the Trinity.18 The relationships we enter into and the social context in which we

live greatly enhances — or obstructs — our ability to live dignified lives. A social context like

Amos witnessed in Israel, where burnt offerings meant more to the people than feeding their

neighbors, would certainly obstruct the ability of those who were poor to live fully dignified

lives. A consumer-driven social context like we witness today, where amassing wealth means

more to many people than sharing their gifts, also obstructs the ability of today’s poor to live

fully dignified lives.

Themes from Amos 5:18-24 have surfaced from the earliest days of the Christian faith to

today. The passage itself has been heavily quoted, as well. Revered civil rights leader Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr. referenced Amos 5:24 in a number of public speeches, including at the start of

the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1967

and the night before he was assassinated in 1968.19 He paraphrased the verse, “until justice rolls

down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” The descriptor “mighty” was used to

convey the “fierce urgency” of the present. Dr. King, a prophet of his day, felt that injustice

needed to be swept away from the United States “as if by a rampaging torrent, which is to say,

by a ‘mighty stream.’”20 Amos preached with a similar sense of urgency. God is not going to

wait around as the Israelites lollygag. The darkness is coming. Like the injustice of racism

understood by Dr. King, the injustice of oppression to the poor was for Amos a reality that

needed to be eliminated immediately.

18 Vatican II, “Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,” in Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, ed. David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010), sec. 24.

19 Susan Ackerman, “Amos 5:18-24,” Interpretation (2003): 190. Accessed March 22, 2015. 20 Ackerman, “Amos 5:18-24,” 191.

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After exploring the above historical and current connections of Amos 5:18-24, the

students will have a greater understanding of the importance of social justice and how it must

stem from worship. Hopefully, the presentation will have sparked a desire to go out and examine

issues of justice first-hand. The group will spend a few afternoon hours at Project Recovery in St.

Paul, a meal program dedicated to providing quality lunches to people experiencing

homelessness. The service will be done together. Being together not only builds community

among the retreatants, but it models how they can collectively begin to tackle social evils.

Amos’s theology begins with the belief that the faith community “is a ‘we’ and that the

community is part of the larger community of all God’s people.”21 As a society, why are our

empty offerings to God falling short? Why is the noise of our songs so unpleasant for God? This

is not always comfortable to consider. Often the issues plaguing society seem so out of the

individual’s grasp. What can I possibly do to eradicate poverty or to ensure just wages for all?

The answer does not lie in the first-person singular. Rather, the collective we must consider how

to begin to combat these issues together.

Students will return from Project Recovery to the retreat center later in the afternoon. To

debrief, the group will be invited to develop a liturgy to ritualize what they just experienced. We

spent a good part of the day discussing why true worship must seek justice. Now, we will

explore why true justice must be nourished by worship. Liturgical ritual as practiced in worship

can be a real “force for justice” for a number of reasons, argues pastoral care instructor Elaine

Ramshaw.22 First, there is a basic equality among the community when it is gathered for liturgy.

The usual societal divides are lifted, as everyone sits in the congregation together, prays together,

joins around the same altar together, etc. This witness “challenges society’s every day order.”23 21 Kathleen M. O’Connor, “Repentance in the First-Person Plural,” Journal for Preachers (2008): 11.

Accessed March 22, 2015. 22 Eileen Ramshaw, Ritual and Pastoral Care (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), 88. 23 Ramshaw, Ritual and Pastoral Care, 90.

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Second, liturgical eschatology demonstrates the in-breaking of the kingdom of God in the present

celebration. Ramshaw notes, “The power of the sacraments to give a foretaste of the reign of

God is a formidable witness to justice.”24 By participating in these particular liturgical rituals,

those gathered for worship are experiencing God’s kingdom — the ideal reality to which the

church is constantly striving. Finally, the prayers offered during worship can serve to raise

awareness for justice issues within the community. Ramshaw asserts that “real prayer will

change the way we see the world and impel us to act for justice.”25 Whether these take the form

of intercessions, the Eucharistic prayer or the closing blessing, prayers certainly can and should

focus on social justice issues.

Old Testament professor Mark Daniel Carroll R. also poses some solid questions that

could prompt the students’ reflections regarding the liturgical connection to social justice. These

include: “How can the ‘cult’ (liturgical practices) both celebrate and criticize? How in tune are

the popular theology and celebrations with the biblical picture of God and his demands? In what

ways does the popular [worship] affect, through its world-view and ethos, the day-to-day life and

experience of the nation? What needs preserving as a proper Christian-cultural expression, and

what should be redirected or excised?”26 I will give the students a few minutes of quiet,

individual time to reflect on their own answers to these questions before we begin the group

activity.

We will then begin to develop our liturgy. Since not all of the students on the retreat may

be Catholic or even Christian, we will create an inclusive liturgy of the word instead of a Mass.

24 Ramshaw, Ritual and Pastoral Care, 96. 25 Ramshaw, Ritual and Pastoral Care, 110. 26 Mark Daniel Carroll R., Contexts for Amos: Prophetic Poetics in Latin American Perspective (England:

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Press, 1992), 302. Carroll R. proposes a new push for parishes that “realigns the liturgy with liberation aspirations” (300). This liturgical focus is already rampant in many parts of Latin America, where religious piety naturally gels with a commitment to praxis (301). For more on the social justice efforts of the Latin American church and how these relate to Amos, see Contexts for Amos.

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The reading of focus will be Amos 5:18-24. Students will break into small groups, and each

group will create part of the liturgy (e.g. prayers, music, prayer activity and intercessions.) The

overarching theme of the liturgy is “justice nourished by worship.” I will provide handouts to

each group that gives tips about how to write prayers, select appropriate songs, etc. I will also

offer questions to consider while working and an example of each part of the liturgy. These

questions and examples will comprise the final part of this paper.

Opening and closing prayers

Questions to consider:

1. What are the needs we want to voice in prayer?

2. Who is most in need of our prayers today?

Example:

Creator God, You demand that justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. But God, our world seems so far from just and right these days. There is violence all around us. It’s confusing and easy to lose hope. Invigorate our hearts and stimulate our actions, that we may not be overcome by the injustices we face, but instead be inspired to do all we can to move peace from a hope to a reality. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Prayer activity

Questions to consider:

1. How can I ritualize this service experience?

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2. What sort of activity might help students reflect on the experience and look towards the future?

Example:

Create an examen prayer for social justice. The examen prayer practice stems from the Ignatian spirituality tradition. It is a form of reflective prayer that invites participants to think intentionally about Christ’s presence and the specific emotions felt during the experience.

1. Become aware of Christ’s presence  —  Where did you experience Christ at Project Recovery? In the staff members? In the people waiting for food? In yourself? How has Jesus been present to you this day? Maybe he’s present to you in your questioning, in your uneasiness, in your desire to serve others?

2. Review this service experience with gratitude  —   What new insights have you gained during your time at Project Recovery? Do you feel closer to Christ? To your liturgical community? Is there a particular moment or person that sparked your reflection?

3. Pay attention to your emotions  —   How did you feel as we drove up to the meal program? As you stood behind the mashed potato station? What about as you talked with the people who came through the food line? Was your heart moved as you saw the children who don’t have enough to eat?

4. Choose one emotion and pray from it  —  Give it to Jesus. Give him that awe, that gratitude, that disbelief or anger. Jesus can handle it.

5. Look forward to your next social justice action  —   The seeds of justice continue to grow in your hearts. The issue of hunger we encountered at Project Recovery speaks to greater structural issues in society. Why do some have plenty to eat and others barely anything? What social systems perpetuate this disparity? What little steps can I take to make this world a more just place?

Intercessions

Questions to consider:

1. Who do we want to pray for?

2. Why do we want to pray for them?

Example:

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For the people we met today at Project Recovery who are walking in darkness of hunger, that the light of God’s love and the resources of the community may sustain and nourish them.

Let us pray to the Lord.

For our worshipping community, that our celebrations and offerings inside the church might always direct us to go out and seek justice for all.

Let us pray to the Lord.

For the Saint John’s University community, that the work we do in the classroom, on the playing field and in the office may be pleasing to God.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Music

Questions to consider:

1. What messages are we trying to convey in song?

2. What mood do we want to set with the music (lively, somber, etc.)?

Example:

“What have we done for the poor ones” by Lori True

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Bibliography

Aaron, Charles L. Preaching Hosea, Amos and Micah. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2005.

Achtemeier, Elizabeth. New International Biblical Commentary: Minor Prophets I. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.

Ackerman, Susan. “Amos 5:18-24.” Interpretation (2003): 190-193. Accessed March 22, 2015. Barstad, Hans M. The Religious Polemics of Amos: Studies in the Preaching of Amos.

Netherlands: Leiden E.J. Brill, 1984.

Beyer, Douglas. “Preaching from Amos.” Southwestern Journal of Theology (1995): 36-42. Accessed March 22, 2015.

Carroll R., M. Daniel. Amos—The Prophet and His Oracles. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002.

Carroll R., Mark Daniel. Contexts for Amos: Prophetic Poetics in Latin American Perspective. England: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Press, 1992.

Escobar, Donoso S. “Social Justice in the Book of Amos.” Review and Expositor 92, (1995): 169-173. Accessed March 22, 2015.

Gottwald, Norman K. “A Hypothesis about Social Class in Monarchic Israel in the Light of Contemporary Studies of Social Class and Social Stratification.” In The Hebrew Bible in Its Social World and in Ours. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993.

Lessing, Reed. “Upsetting the Status Quo: Preaching Like Amos.” Concordia Journal 33, no. 3 (July 2007): 285-291. Accessed March 22, 2015.

O’Connor, Kathleen M. “Repentance in First-Person Plural.” Journal for Preachers (2008): 9-13. Accessed March 22, 2015.

Premnath, Devadasan. “Amos, Book of.” In The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible,

edited by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld. Vol. 1. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006.

Pope John Paul II. “Centesimus Annus: On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum.” In Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, 14-40. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010.

Pope Paul VI. “Octogesima Adveniens: A Call to Action.” In Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, 14-40. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010.

Pope Paul VI. “Populorum Progressio: On the Development of Peoples.” In Catholic Social

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Thought: The Documentary Heritage, edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, 14-40. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010.

Ramshaw, Elaine. Ritual and Pastoral Care. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987.

Synod of Bishops. “Justitia in Mundo: Justice in the World.” In Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, 14-40. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010.

True, Lori. “What Have We Done For the Poor Ones.” GIA Publications, Inc., 2007.

Vatican II. “Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.” In Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, 14-40. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010.

Younger, Brett. “Calorie Counting Ministers in a Starving World: Amos 5:18-24.” Review and Expositor 110, (2013): 295-300. Accessed March 22, 2015.