About 10 years ago when I was finishing up the process of formation for being ordained as a deacon, I recall one class session in which we were asked to identify the prophets of our time. I recall hearing the names, among others, of Pope John Paul II, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Gandhi, and Archbishop Oscar Romero. Something I noticed was that, other than two or three notable contemporary names, we tended to select figures from the past 40 years or so of recent history.
It seems a fairly easy task to identify the prophets of the past—say the ancient prophets of the Bible, or perhaps those more recent historical figures who have made an impression in terms of faith on our world or nation. However, it becomes a little more difficult to identify those who are the prophets of our own time. Especially we tend not to see the prophets who live among us, those who in our day and age, and perhaps in our own communities, call out to us and direct our attention to those situations that cry out from God. Perhaps the difficulty is not so much in recognizing the prophets as it is in being able to accept their message.
I'm sure that we can easily think of more than a few situations in our world that could bring about a prophetic warning, and which would either be the cause for decisive action or outright rejection of the bearer of the message. Probably a foremost example in the minds of Catholic Christians is the situation of legalized abortion.
Given that abortion divides our country, it comes to mind easily on this Independence Day weekend when we also consider what is important to us in our identity as a nation of people. Surely, we think, a prophet among us will direct our attention—even more so the attention of our elected leaders—to such an abomination and disregard for human life as abortion. Indeed every instance of disregard for human life is an abomination. Therefore, would a prophet not also direct our attention to reach out in such a way that no one would ever feel compelled to have an abortion in the first place?
Indeed, there are multiple situations in our times that cry out for a prophet to awaken our hearts. Again, as we celebrate Independence Day weekend, many people may be thinking about those who currently defend our country by their military service. We also remember those who served in the past, perhaps they offered the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives, and we offer thankful prayers on behalf of those who preserved our freedom by their service.
However, as we look toward the future of a world that will be home to our children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren, a prophet among us will direct us to pray and work even more fervently for peace in our world and in theirs. A prophet will ask us to question the legitimacy of going to war except where all other possibilities have been utterly exhausted. A prophet will see war as an abomination and will tell us that a just war in our day and age has become increasingly improbable and unlikely. A prophet will demand that we make world peace our priority out of respect for all human life. If we truly believe that God is love, then we will look into the eyes of our enemies and see enemies no longer.
Again, looking toward our future generations, a prophet among us will direct us to be a people of vision in creating a hospitable world in terms of environment, health, sustenance and economy. A prophet will direct us against the destruction of our planet. He or she will urge us to change the way we live by better using renewable resources and to abandon those things of the past that have damaged the quality of our world. A prophet will speak to us of justice and urge that we take responsibility for quality of life for all people in every place. A prophet will ask that we be willing to sacrifice from our vast wealth for betterment of all. A prophet will ask us to be a people of courage, of moral strength, of resolve, but also of love, compassion, and clemency.
However, I think that above all other things a prophet in our day will ask us to reconnect with God spiritually. The voice of the prophet in our world asks us to experience God afresh so that we might be empowered to build a new world on the foundations of justice, righteousness, healing, and peace.
The prophets among us demand that we respect the faith and traditions of others and that we speak of their faith with honor and reverence. They demand that we embrace all with the love that Christ has for the Church. Yet the same prophets demand that we respect and revere our own faith and that we speak up to defend it against those who deem it as a legitimate target of prejudice and derision.
The prophetic voice is one that points us to radical grace of the true life in Jesus Christ in which the guilt and mistakes of the past are no more. The prophet today urges us to reestablish a relationship with God in which we no longer treat others with fear, suspicion, and judgment but where we show willingness to listen, dialogue, and thereby accomplish the works of peace, humility, healing, and hope.
It is truly a difficulty to identify the prophets of our own time—even more those of our own community—but nevertheless they are among us. In all likelihood we may not recognize them: our hearts may be turned against their words. We may have an agenda of our own that takes precedence over other things. It may be that we prefer to be guided by the political voices of our times or by the morality and standards of a world that refuses to consider that a word from God is possible at all.
When we sit down to read the news, and when we read of the woes—of wars, poverty, immorality, disease, and death—we must ask what voice speaks to us today of this world, and what voice of a prophet there is to direct us to a new world, a new life, based on a reality formed in the image of he who came to give us hope for tomorrow.
While the prophets of today may not be easy to identify, and those who are identified are surely to encounter opposition as such, we can nevertheless know that prophetic situations exist among us now as much as, perhaps even more than, at any other time in human history. In a way that we may not have yet considered, the Holy Spirit has given the role of prophet to the Church. Each of us shares by virtue of Baptism in Christ's role as priest, prophet, and king.
While prophets will come and go, and some are surely to be great, we do well to bear in mind that each of us is to share in the voice of the prophet by standing up and acting for what is good, righteous, decent, just, and true. Each of us is to be a defender of the faith in everything it means to live faith by building a world of lasting peace, hope, healing, and restoration.
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