The Uncomfortable Truth: God’s Authority vs. Human Pride, Homily, 2nd July

Today’s readings are about authority.

Who speaks with authority?

Who has the right to tell us the truth?

And what happens when God’s authority collides with human pride?

In the first reading Amos finds himself in trouble.

Not because he has committed a crime.

Not because he is preaching falsehood.

But because he is telling the truth.

And the truth is unwelcome.

Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, tells him:

“Go away, seer. Go back to Judah.”

In other words:

Go somewhere else.

Say something else.

Stop disturbing people.

Stop making us uncomfortable.

That temptation has never disappeared.

People are often happy to hear God’s word—provided it agrees with what they already think.

Provided it does not challenge them.

Provided it does not require change.

But a prophet who merely repeats what people want to hear is not a prophet at all.

Amos gives a remarkable answer.

He says:

“I was no prophet, neither did I belong to any of the brotherhoods of prophets.”

I was a shepherd.

A dresser of sycamore trees.

An ordinary man.

Then the Lord called me.

There is great humility in that answer.

Amos is not claiming importance.

He is not defending his status.

He is simply saying:

“I did not choose this. God sent me.”

And that is what makes genuine prophecy so uncomfortable.

The prophet speaks not his own message but God’s message.

The real argument is not with Amos.

The real argument is with God.

We see something similar in the Gospel.

A paralysed man is brought to Jesus.

The people expect a healing.

Instead Jesus says:

“Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.”

That must have seemed strange.

The obvious problem is paralysis.

The obvious need is physical healing.

Yet Jesus addresses something deeper first.

Sin.

Because Christ knows that the greatest tragedy in a person’s life is not sickness.

It is separation from God.

Not physical weakness.

But spiritual death.

Immediately the scribes begin to object.

“This man is blaspheming.”

And from a human perspective, they have a point.

Only God can forgive sins.

If Jesus is merely a man, His words are outrageous.

But that is exactly the point.

Jesus is revealing who He is.

The miracle that follows is not simply an act of kindness.

It is evidence.

Proof.

A sign.

“Which is easier to say: Your sins are forgiven, or: Get up and walk?”

Then He heals the man.

The body rises so that people may understand what has happened to the soul.

The visible miracle confirms the invisible one.

The paralytic walks home.

But something even greater has happened.

A sinner has been reconciled to God.

That is why the Church has always treasured the Sacrament of Confession.

Because Christ’s power to forgive sins did not disappear when He ascended into heaven.

He entrusted that authority to His Church.

The same Lord who said:

“Your sins are forgiven”

still speaks those words through His priests today.

And perhaps there is a connection between Amos and the Gospel.

Both reveal that God’s greatest gifts are often resisted.

Amos speaks the truth and people reject him.

Jesus offers forgiveness and people accuse Him.

Human beings often resist the very thing they need most.

We see it today.

People are willing to discuss spirituality.

Morality.

Wellbeing.

Mindfulness.

Almost anything.

But talk about sin and forgiveness, and many become uncomfortable.

Yet if there is no sin, there is no need for a Saviour.

And if there is no need for a Saviour, the Cross becomes meaningless.

The Gospel begins with a paralysed man.

But in a sense every one of us is spiritually paralysed without Christ.

Unable to save ourselves.

Unable to heal ourselves.

Unable to remove our own sins.

That is why Jesus came.

Not merely to teach.

Not merely to inspire.

Not merely to set an example.

But to forgive.

To reconcile.

To restore sinners to friendship with God.

The crowd ends the Gospel filled with awe because they have seen divine authority at work.

The authority not merely to heal bodies but to save souls.

And so today’s readings leave us with two questions.

Am I willing to hear God’s truth, even when it challenges me?

And am I willing to bring my sins to Christ, trusting in His mercy?

Because the Lord who called Amos to speak still speaks today.

And the Lord who forgave the paralytic still desires to forgive us.

The question is whether we are willing to listen and to come to Him.