“Well, If They’re Louis Vuitton …”

Amos 2: 6-7a: “I will not revoke its punishment, because they sell the righteous for money and the needy for a pair of sandals. These who pant after the very dust of the earth on the head of the helpless ...” In this year where we in the Cathedral of the King are focusing on “purifying ourselves even as He is pure” the first logical question is ‘purify ourselves from what?’ Here in the Minor Prophets, such as today’s reading, we find some answers. Abuse of the poor, to the point of extorting, stealing, or conning them out of the little they have, is a very goat-like action (Matthew 25: 41-45), and practices such as the promotion of gambling (legal and illegal) and the sale of addictive and health-destroying products are every bit as much impure, if not more so, than adultery or drunkenness (v. 8).