ST MICAH, PROPHET - 21 DECEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 21st of December

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST MICAH, PROPHET

Micheas [Saint Micah] - minor prophet - (Hebrew: Mikhah) the author of the book which holds the sixth place in the collection of the Twelve Minor Prophets, was born at Moresheth (Micheas 1:1; Jeremiah 26:18), a locality not far from the town of Geth (Micheas 1:14). 

JERUSALEM WAS THE SCENE OF HIS MINISTRY

Jerusalem was the scene of his ministry, and it occurred, as we learn from the title of his book, under the Kings Joathan (c. B.C. 740-735), Achaz (735-727?), and Ezechias (727-698?). 

We do not, however, appear to possess any of his addresses prior to the reign of Ezechias. He was thus a contemporary of the Prophet Isaias. His book falls into three parts.

- Part One (Chapters 1-3)

The first part consists of chapters 1-3. Micheas begins by announcing the impending destruction of Samaria as a punishment for its sins, and Jerusalem also is threatened. In chapter 2 the prophet develops his threats against the Kingdom of Juda and gives his reasons for them. In chapter 3 he utters his reproaches with greater distinctness against the chief culprits: the prophets, the priests, the princes, and the judges. Because of their transgressions, Sion shall be ploughed as a field, etc. Chapters 1-3 must have been composed shortly before the destruction of the Kingdom of Samaria by the Assyrians (B.C. 722).

- Part Two (Chapters 4-5)

In the second part (4-5), we have a discourse announcing the future conversion of the nations to the Law of Yahweh and describing the Messianic peace, an era to be inaugurated by the triumph of Israel over all its enemies, symbolized by the Assyrians. In 5:1 ff. (Hebrews, 2 ff.), the prophet introduces the Messianic king whose place of origin is to be Bethlehem-Ephrata; Yahweh will only give up his people "till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth", an allusion to the well-known passage of Isaiah 7:14. 

The difference of tone and contents clearly show that 4-5 must have been composed in other circumstances than 1-3. They probably date from shortly after the fall of Samaria in B.C. 722.

- Part Three (Chapters 6-7) Chapters 6-7 are cast in a dramatic shape. Yahweh interpellates the people and reproaches them with ingratitude (6:3-5). The people ask by what offerings they can expiate their sin (6:6-7). The prophet answers that Yahweh claims the observance of the moral law rather than sacrifices (6:8). But this law has been shamefully violated by the nation, which has thus brought on itself God's punishment (6:9 ff.).

(7-11 + 14 ff.) contains a prayer in which the fallen city expresses hope in a coming restoration and confidence in God. 

The opinions of critics are divided on the composition of these chapters. Several consider them a mere collection of detached fragments of more or less recent origin; but there is a satisfactory connexion between them. 

THE AUTHORSHIP OF CHAPTERS 6-7

The chief reason why critics find it difficult to attribute to Micheas the authorship of chapters 6-7, or at least of a large portion, is because they identify the fallen city of 7:7 ff., with Jerusalem. But the prophet never mentions Jerusalem, and there is no proof that Jerusalem is the city intended. On the contrary, certain traits are better explained on the supposition that the city in the prophet's mind is Samaria; see especially 6:16, and 7:14. 

According to this hypothesis, the prophet in 6-7:6 and 7:11-13, casts a retrospective look at the causes which brought about the fall of Samaria, and in 7:7-11 + 14 ff., he expresses his desires for its return to the Lord's favour. As in the historical situation thus supposed there is nothing which does not exactly tally with the circumstances of Micheas's time, as there is no disagreement in ideas between Micheas 1 ff., and 6-7 as on the contrary real affinities in style and vocabulary exist between Micheas 1 ff., and 6-7, it seems unnecessary to deny to the Prophet Micheas the authorship of these two chapters. 

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)