PROPHETS ARE CHOSEN FROM AMONG MEN BY GOD

20150705 PROPHETS ARE CHOSEN FROM AMONG MEN BY GOD

Readings at Mass

First reading

Ezekiel 2:2-5 ©

The spirit came into me and made me stand up, and I heard the Lord speaking to me. He said, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against me. Till now they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me. The sons are defiant and obstinate; I am sending you to them, to say, “The Lord says this.” Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.’

Psalm

Psalm 122:1-5 ©

Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.

To you have I lifted up my eyes,

  you who dwell in the heavens;

my eyes, like the eyes of slaves

  on the hand of their lords.

Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.

Like the eyes of a servant

  on the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes are on the Lord our God

  till he show us his mercy.

Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

  We are filled with contempt.

Indeed all too full is our soul

  with the scorn of the rich,

  with the proud man’s disdain.

Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.

Second reading

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ©

In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! About this thing, I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me, but he has said, ‘My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.’ So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn1:14,12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word was made flesh and lived among us:

to all who did accept him

he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

Or

Lk4:18

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,

to proclaim liberty to captives.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 6:1-6 ©

Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

PROPHETS ARE CHOSEN FROM AMONG MEN BY GOD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: EZ 2:2-5; 2 COR 12:7-10; MK 6:1-6

In principle, all Christians have the potential ability to prophesy, although not all actually exercise it.  St Paul himself urged the members of his congregation to seek the gifts of the Spirit, especially that of prophecy (1 Cor 14:1; 1 Cor 14:39).  Indeed, God very often use the gift of prophetic speech to encourage, guide, edify and even warn His people. Of course, the gift of prophecy goes beyond speech and utterances to one’s way of life.  In fact, a true prophet is not only one who speaks the word of God but also demonstrates it in his very life.

What is significant in the gift of prophecy is that it is given to ordinary people, after all, for Christians by virtue of our baptism, are called to share in a special way the kingly, priestly and prophetic role of Christ.  All the three scripture readings speak of the ordinariness of the call.  Prophet Ezekiel was called from among his people.  God told Ezekiel, “Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.”  St Paul too spoke of his own weaknesses and inadequacy in spite of the extraordinary revelations he had received.  Then, in the gospel, Jesus came back to his hometown, but as His folks were so familiar with him, they were surprised.  “They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?'”

The ordinariness of prophets is both an asset and a liability.  An asset because the prophet, since he comes from among his people, understands the situation better than anyone else and therefore could read the signs of the time in the light of God’s word.  That is why God always chooses prophets from among the people and they prophesy almost always for the community that they belong.  The downside is that because the people are so familiar with them, they do not take their words seriously.  Indeed, this was what happened to the prophets of old, including St Paul and Jesus.  They were rejected by their own people.  And so as they say, “familiarity breeds contempt.”

Perhaps, the real reason why prophets are not accepted in their own country is because people do not like to be challenged and be told that they are wrong.  Today, people want their autonomy.  They want to be a law to themselves and in a climate of relativism; people do not tolerate others who claim to have the truth. What is right or wrong is not a matter of objective interpretation but subjective.   They do not want to give up what is familiar and comfortable.  They do not want to change or hear things that are critical of their behaviour.  They only want to hear “Good News”, that means, things that they like to hear.

Of course, sometimes prejudice is not against the person but more because of the conditioning of the recipients.  We are so conditioned by our past experiences that we are not open to the miraculous and the surprising things of life.  Indeed, some intellectual people are so proud of their knowledge that they think everything can be proven by science and reason alone.  As a result, they shut themselves to the surprising ways that God wants to work in their lives.  This is equally true in the dimension of faith.  Old converts of the faith often think they know more than new converts.  Just because they have long been in the faith, they become very skeptical and critical when new converts share the knowledge of their faith and especially their experiences and encounters with God. As a result of their conditioning it becomes an obstacle in their experiencing the mercy and power of God.

But should we give up our prophetic role simply because people do not want to hear?  This perhaps would be an indication whether you are a true or a false prophet.  Clearly, Ezekiel was forewarned that he would be sent to a set of rebels who are defiant and obstinate in turning away from the Lord.  Jesus too came to His own, but His own received Him not.  Yet, as St Paul would tell us in his letters, in and out of season, he would proclaim the Gospel, welcome or unwelcome, for this responsibility has been entrusted to him not by men but by God.  Woe to him if he failed to exercise this office given to him.

As prophets, we should not take rejection too seriously.  After all, we prophesy out of love and compassion.  By rejecting us, they are ultimately the losers, since true prophets do not prophesy for self-interests but purely for the good of their listeners.

By failing to listen to the prophets that God sends us, we can ruin our lives, for the lack of faith would cause us to miss out on the blessings that the Lord wants to give us.  Indeed, because of their lack of faith, Jesus could not perform any miracles in His hometown.  It was not because Jesus did not have the power of miracles but because the people were not ready to allow God to act in their lives.  If Jesus could not perform any might works, it was simply because they lacked confidence and faith in Him.  God would not force His love and kindness on us.

Consequently, if at times we wonder why God does not come to our help or why He is silent in the face of corruption and injustice, could it be because we lack faith in Him?  Indeed, when we blame God for not acting, perhaps, it is because our lack of faith in Him makes it impossible for Him to act; or even if He had acted, we cannot see how He is a God of surprises, finding a solution that we least expect.   God does not do our bidding but He bids us to follow His way, as He asked St Paul to trust Him, saying, “My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness”.   Truly, Jesus could do wonders for us but He needs our faith to accept His power at work in us.

How, then, can we remain true to our office as prophets? Fidelity to one’s prophetic office presupposes a real encounter with the Lord.  Prophets are always called in the context of a conversion experience that is both religious and moral.   Once again we see this pre-requisite in Ezekiel, St Paul and Jesus.  Prophet Ezekiel was called in the context of a vision he saw.  Awed by this religious experience, he fell on his face only to hear the Spirit telling him to get up and be the prophet of God.  Similarly, St Paul too received a vision of the Lord on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians.  Jesus on His return to His hometown read a passage from Isaiah confirming His messianic and prophetic office.  Indeed, a previous experience or encounter with God is necessary for one to be a prophet because a prophet must be one who knows God and is in intimate encounter with Him.

Only when we have encountered the Lord, can our lives be transformed.  Indeed, many people who have encountered the power, mercy and love of God in their lives change their lifestyles completely. Others wonder why their lives have changed, just as Jesus’ countrymen wondered how Jesus, the carpenter’s son whom they knew could have been gifted with such wisdom and miraculous powers.  Of course, for Jesus and those of us who have been transformed and empowered, we know it is by the grace of God.

Secondly, filled with the Spirit of God, we want to proclaim Him and His truth to the world.  We cannot be silent about what we have experienced.  We only want to share the Good News we have received with others, for the Good News that we have been given is never for ourselves alone but for the whole world.  And we do it not out of pride or arrogance but with compassion and love.  We are not trying to impose our views or even the Word of God on others, but we want to invite them to respond to His Word so that they too might not be deprived of the love and truth that God wants to give them as well.

Thirdly, true prophets are those who are conscious of their dependence on the Lord.  They do not act on their own strength and reasoning.  That is why Ezekiel, after being commanded to prophesy to the stiff-necked rebels, God invited him to eat the scroll, the word of God, so that he would find strength, courage and wisdom to proclaim the Word powerfully.  When we know what we are doing is what God wants us to do, we will be more concerned of who we are in God’s eyes than what others might think of us.

We are all prophets to each other.  Prophets must listen to fellow prophets too.  Our friends, our relatives and people who are familiar to us, might be the prophets that God sends to us to help us along the way.  Sometimes, even the poor, the sick and the needy can very well be the prophets God sends to us to learn something from them. It behooves us not to be critical of them just because we are familiar with them, or because they say things that are not pleasing to our ears.  Of course, we must neither be so gullible as to think that what everyone says, even if he or she claims to be speaking the Word of God, is to be accepted as gospel truth without proper prayerful discernment.

Today, we are called to proclaim the Good News, which is the Word of God or better still, Jesus Himself, to the world.  It would be irresponsible for us to fetter the Word of God instead of proclaiming His Word, His truth and His love to the world, regardless of whether we are accepted or rejected. But we cannot be true prophets unless we have read the Word of God ourselves, so that we can discern His will in today’s times.  Parents cannot guide their children unless they have discerned God’s will for them through the Word of God. Without being in touch with God’s word, we will be blind like them. Without finding inspiration and encouragement from God’s words, when we are unwelcome, persecuted and misunderstood, we will not be able to persevere in our work as prophets.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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