March 15, 2007: Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
THE MARK OF A PROPHET
Verses 25-26 of the first reading for daily Mass tells us:
From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day; yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. [Jeremiah 7:23-28]
We shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking there to be a great divide between us and those who are called prophets in the Bible. To prophesy isn’t to predict the future but rather to speak in the name of God. All of us are called to prophesy, to speak God’s truth as we find it in the teachings of the Catholic Church, including our private readings of the Bible as guided by those teachings.
During an age of re-paganization and also an age when nations of different religious traditions live intermingled, it’s hard to be prophets without making nuisances of ourselves — but sometimes being a nuisance is exactly what’s needed to get God’s message across. Usually not. Most Christians should be able to prophesy by way of quiet and private witness, perhaps a witness that involves only behavior without speaking the slightest of sermons.
We’re all called to prophesy, knowing that few will listen to us. There’s not much chance that the residents of our modern marketplaces will turn to God in large numbers, but that’s not our concern. We’re to speak the truth, whether or not it’s in season.
We’re to speak the truth rather than speak lies but it’s still more important to live the truth. There are many who live the truth and are silent, perhaps from a lack of confidence. We’re told not to fear. When we’re called to prophesy in any way, the Holy Spirit will guide us, using the words and concepts available to us.
Christians are not to speak the lies which lead to a more complete conformity. Often, we can speak the truth in a gentle way not directed to condemning another human being and we will find that will at least make others wonder. We have to remember our own temptations to sins, sometimes great sins. We have to remember our own temptations to conform to the world. We have to remember all our own narrow escapes.
But there is truth to be served and souls to be reminded that they have a Maker and He desires them to return to Him and to leave behind their attachments to lies and all their other sins.
In all of this, let us rely on the Holy Spirit. Let us invoke the Spirit of Love to reshape us into Christ-like creatures, to guide us and inspire us. Without love, prophesy of the greatest of truths is just another way to lie.
March 14, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Simplicity of the gospel lived is very profound. As it say in Revelation, message of Christ is the spirit of prophecy.
March 15, 2007 at 9:56 am
Yes. A priest who’s preaching a mission at my parish told us that St. Francis once said something like this: Preach the Gospel always. If necessary, use words.