20160829 THE WORK OF PROPHECY IN OUR TIMES
Reading
1, Jeremiah 1:17-19
17 'As
for you, prepare yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you.
Have no fear of them and in their presence I will make you
fearless.
18 For
look, today I have made you into a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of
bronze to stand against the whole country: the kings of Judah,
its princes, its priests and the people of the country.
19 They
will fight
against you but will not
overcome you, for I am with you, Yahweh declares,
to rescue you.'
Responsorial
Psalm, Psalms 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15, 17
1 In
you, Yahweh, I take refuge, I shall never be put to shame.
3 Be a
sheltering rock for me, always accessible; you have determined to save me, for
you are my rock, my fortress.
4 My
God, rescue me from the clutches of the wicked, from the grasp of the rogue and
the ruthless.
5 For
you are my hope, Lord, my trust, Yahweh, since boyhood.
6 On
you I have relied since my birth, since my mother's womb you have been my
portion, the constant theme of my praise.
15 My
lips shall proclaim your saving justice, your saving power all day long.
17 God,
you have taught me from boyhood, and I am still proclaiming your marvels.
Gospel,
Mark 6:17-29
17 Now
it was this same Herod who had
sent to have John arrested,
and had had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's
wife whom he had married.
19 As
for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him, but she was not
able to do so,
20
because Herod was in awe
of John, knowing him to be a good and upright
man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly
perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
21 An
opportunity came on Herod's birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of
his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee.
22 When
the daughter of this same Herodias came in
and danced, she delighted Herod and his
guests; so the king said to the girl, 'Ask me anything you like and I will give it
you.'
24 She
went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for?' She replied, 'The head
of John the
Baptist.'
25 The
girl at once rushed back to the king and made her request, 'I want you to give
me John the
Baptist's head, immediately, on a dish.'
26 The
king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had
sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her.
27 At
once the king sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John's head.
28 The man went off and
beheaded him in the prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to
the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
29 When John's disciples heard about this, they came and took
his body and laid it in a tomb.
THE
WORK OF PROPHECY IN OUR TIMES
In the days of old, prophecy
was normally made by a charismatic leader. Most of the time he was a lone
voice crying out in the desert, like John the Baptist. This was the case of
most of the prophets in the Old Testament. Most of the time, they were fighting
against the established institutions. Whether it was Jeremiah, John the
Baptist, our Lord Jesus or the apostles, their real enemies and opponents were
the rulers of the day, the king, the princes, the nobles, the priests and the
powerful. It must have been terribly frightening to be a prophet because
the kings and the authorities had power over life and death. To criticize or
reprimand those who were in power was to court death, imprisonment and
punishment. So it is not surprising that all the prophets, including our
Lord, were persecuted, imprisoned, mocked, ridiculed, threatened, intimidated
and even killed.
Who wants such a job?
Who wants to be unpopular? Who wants to have his life shortened when we
have only one life? Who would not be worried for his loved ones, especially
his family members, if anything were to go wrong for them? Who is not
afraid of pain and rejection, physical and moral suffering? Who is not
afraid of loneliness and isolation? We can be sure that when John the
Baptist was thrown into the dungeon, a small little cell all chained up in the
palace, it must have been very hard and miserable for him as he was so free all
his life. Worst of all, a prophet is not paid. He would have to live
simply. He is called to be a prophet not just in words but in life.
So why be a prophet when there is nothing to gain from it?
Unlike other offices,
positions or jobs where people aspire to and work for them, a prophet needs to
be called. This is because without conviction and passion this prophetic
office cannot be exercised faithfully. Indeed, Jeremiah and John the Baptist
knew in their hearts that they were called by the Lord. “The word of the Lord
was addressed to me, saying: ‘Brace yourself for action. Stand up and tell them
all I command you. Do not be dismayed at their presence, or in their presence I
will make you dismayed.’” The prophetic office is not a choice we
make based on our likes and preferences. It has to be a call from within
our hearts, hence, the Latin word, “vocare”.
Only when we are called,
can we then exercise the office with confidence and power. This is
because unlike other career choices, we know that we are not working for
ourselves but for God and His people. We also know that unlike a career
where we need to depend on ourselves, when it is a vocation, we depend more on
God who works in and through us. We know that we are not fighting this
battle alone but because this mission is from God, He will supply us the graces
to accomplish His tasks. This is what the Lord said to Jeremiah, “I, for
my part, today will make you into a fortified city, a pillar of iron, and a
wall of bronze to comfort all this land: the kings of Judah its princes, its
priests and the country people. They will fight against you but shall not
overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you – it is the Lord who
speaks.” With the psalmist, we can place our total trust in the Lord to
help us and rescue us from our foes. “In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let
me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me, free me: pay heed to me
and save me. Be a rock where I can take refuge, a mighty stronghold to
save me; for you are my rock, my stronghold. Free me from the hand of the
wicked.” In the final analysis, a true prophet is so only because we
can see the hand of the Lord working in and through him in a most powerful
manner.
Whilst the essential
pattern of the call to be a prophet and the work is still the same today, the
way one is called to exercise the office of prophecy can be quite
different. In those days, we depended simply on a charismatic
person. This still remains the case today. We need charismatic
leaders filled with passion, zeal and conviction for anything to move
forward. However, unlike prophecy then, which was localized in a particular
county or country, today we live in a global village. It would be
impossible to communicate with the rest of society if we simply go about doing
our work.
So over and above a
charismatic prophet who is both eloquent in words and exemplary in deeds, there
is a need for collaboration with others. We need the support of the
community as well. This explains why consistently and repeatedly, the
popes have reminded us that the mission of the Church must be accomplished in
communion. We cannot act alone as in the past. The prophets of
today need to be supported by the community if his work were to be
effective. If the Church has become a diminishing prophet in the world,
it is because we are not working together as Church. If we are fighting
among ourselves and divided, Satan is very happy. The world wants to see
the Church divided from within so that they do not have to do anything.
If we do not support the Holy Father in His mission, the Church cannot be a
real prophetic force in the world. If the world listens to the pope, it is
because they know that more than a billion people are behind him. So if
want to preach about the beauty of married life and the family, we must, as
Catholics, demonstrate the joy of married love and the family.
Even this is not sufficient
if we want our message to get across to all peoples in the world. Today,
we need the media to help us in the work of prophecy. The stark reality
is that in a globalized and digital society, the only way to reach out to the
masses is to leverage the tools of mass communication. Print alone is no
longer effective. The media is a double-edged sword. They can be
our friends or our enemies. The power of the media is really great.
It can swing the opinions of the masses by the way it reports the news and the
way it presents the facts. Public opinion is easily swayed by the media
and those who use social communication tools. Quite often, one is elected
or heard only because of the support and the sympathy of the media. Thus,
the media is a very powerful instrument in the work of prophecy today. If
harnessed well, they can help us to spread the Good News and proclaim the truth
to the world.
But there are also many
Herodias around who would manipulate anyone to serve their cause.
Herodias would even go to the extreme of allowing her daughter to dance
before Herod, which in those days was considered inappropriate for a royal
member of the family. But she was so vindictive that she would not spare
any effort to destroy her critics. This is true of the world today.
Our opponents of the truth and justice can and will do anything to discredit
the prophets of the Church, often using the media and manipulating it for their
own agenda and interests. If not dealt with properly, they could destroy
all that we have built. Thus a prophet today must be on guard against the
devious plans and attacks of our enemies all the time.
This is all the more urgent
because of relativism. Our hearts inform us of what is right and what is
wrong. Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist and yet was afraid of
him. Like Herod, we are often in a dilemma. There is in each one of
us, good and evil. We are not much different from Herod. We do not
like to hear the truth in case we need to change; yet we feel drawn to hear the
truth that is proclaimed. As Church, therefore, we need to speak together
as one led by our leader, be he our Holy Father or the bishop of the diocese,
so that when we speak, we can be heard clearly by the world, as opposed to when
we speak singly or as an individual.
Let us today be inspired by
John the Baptist’s courage and fidelity to the truth. He preferred to be
true to his calling and the voice of God than to listen to the world. He
lived and died for the truth. We too are called to be the conscience of
the world. We must not hide the truth and choose popularity, acceptance
and personal gain over truth and justice. Let us not waiver like Herod
and give in to impulse, driven by fear, emotions and self-indulgence.
John could do this only because of his relationship with the Lord. He
derived his strength and fortitude from prayer and communion with God in the
desert and in solitude. If we feel discouraged today, and all alone like
Jeremiah, John the Baptist and our Lord, let us go to the garden of Gethsemane
and cry out for help. Like the psalmist, we pray, “It is you, O Lord, who
are my hope, my trust, O Lord, since my youth. On you I have leaned from my
birth, from my mother’s womb you have been my help. My lips will tell of your
justice and day by day of your help. O God, you have taught me from my
youth and I proclaim your wonders still.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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