Most of the first readings for this week’s daily masses are taken from the Prophet Amos. They are all powerful readings, but unless you familiar with the history of Israel, the readings are hard to understand apart from (a) the people of Israel are not examples of Covenant people, (b) all manner of sin is rampant, and (c) the King is simply put, a “bad” shepherd of the people. The net effect is that our readings are filled with prophetic warnings, condemnations, and descriptions of the punishment that awaits the people.

While there are details I might provide to fill in context, history, and “decode” the message and the biblical references to which they point… instead, take seven minutes and take in the “big picture” courtesy of the folks at Bible Project: