20161212 THE AUTHORITY OF A TRUE PROPHET
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Numbers
24:2-7,15-17 ©
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Raising his eyes
Balaam saw Israel, encamped by tribes; the spirit of God came on him and he
declaimed his poem. He said:
‘The oracle of Balaam
son of Beor,
the oracle of the man
with far-seeing eyes,
the oracle of one who
hears the word of God.
He sees what Shaddai
makes him see,
receives the divine
answer, and his eyes are opened.
How fair are your
tents, O Jacob!
How fair your
dwellings, Israel!
Like valleys that
stretch afar,
like gardens by the
banks of a river,
like aloes planted by
the Lord,
like cedars beside
the waters!
A hero arises from
their stock,
he reigns over
countless peoples.
His king is greater
than Agag,
his majesty is
exalted.’
Then Balaam declaimed
his poem again. He said:
‘The oracle of Balaam
son of Beor,
the oracle of the man
with far-seeing eyes,
the oracle of one who
hears the word of God,
of one who knows the
knowledge of the Most High.
He sees what Shaddai
makes him see,
receives the divine
answer, and his eyes are opened.
I see him – but
not in the present,
I behold him –
but not close at hand:
a star from Jacob
takes the leadership,
a sceptre arises from
Israel.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
24(25):4-6,7a-9 ©
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Lord, make me know
your ways.
Lord, make me know
your ways.
Lord,
teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your
truth, and teach me:
for you
are God my saviour.
Lord, make me know
your ways.
In you I hope all day
long
because
of your goodness, O Lord.
Remember your mercy,
Lord,
and the
love you have shown from of old.
Do not remember the
sins of my youth.
In your
love remember me.
Lord, make me know
your ways.
The Lord is good and
upright.
He shows
the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble
in the right path,
He
teaches his way to the poor.
Lord, make me know
your ways.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord will come,
go out to meet him.
Great is his
beginning and his reign will have no end.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Ps84:8
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Let us see, O Lord,
your mercy
and give us your
saving help.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 21:23-27
©
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Jesus
had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests and the
elders of the people came to him and said, ‘What authority have you for acting
like this? And who gave you this authority?’ ‘And I’ replied Jesus ‘will ask
you a question, only one; if you tell me the answer to it, I will then tell you
my authority for acting like this. John’s baptism: where did it come from:
heaven or man?’ And they argued it out this way among themselves, ‘If we say
from heaven, he will retort, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?”; but if
we say from man, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a
prophet.’ So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’ And he retorted, ‘Nor
will I tell you my authority for acting like this.’
THE
AUTHORITY OF A TRUE PROPHET
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ NUM 24:2-7, 15-17; MATTHEW 21:23-27
]
As we
enter the third week of Advent, we read of the prophets announcing the coming
of the Messiah. How much can we trust in their prophecies with regard to
the coming of Christ? We are told that the Jewish religious leaders
refused to accept the prophecies of John the Baptist. Similarly, they
could not accept Jesus as well. They questioned the authority of Jesus, “What
authority have you for acting like this? And who gave you this
authority?” Today, we also have many prophets in our midst claiming
to speak in the name of God. How do we know who are the true prophets or
that we are called to be prophet? How do we know that they are truly
acting in the name of God?
The true prophet must be
one who hears the Word of God. No one can claim to be a prophet of God
unless he is docile to the Word of God. Balaam prefaced his
prophecy thus, “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man with
far-seeing eyes, the oracle of one who hears the word of God. He sees what
Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are
opened.” For this reason, the prophet must be a prayerful
person. He must be in tune with the Word of God. Someone who hardly
prays and who hardly meditates on the Word of God can only utter his own
opinions and interests. If we seek to be true prophets, we need to make
time to withdraw into the wilderness to sit before the Lord and hear Him
speaking to us.
Most of the time, false
prophets mistake their own voice for the voice of God. Before one can
claim to speak the voice of God, it presupposes we have spent time in prayer
and discernment. Otherwise, our hidden and unconscious motives and fears
will dictate our wills and minds. Indeed, the prayer of the psalmist must
be the prayer of the prophet every day. “Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths. Make me walk in your truth, and teach me: for
you are God my saviour.” St John the Baptist regarded himself only
as the voice of God. He reminded us that Jesus is the Word but that he
was just the voice that carried the Word of God to humanity. As the
voice of God, he was only a channel and a servant, not the master of the Word
of God. Jesus as the Word of God in person lived by the Word of His
Father. He was always in constant communion with His Father in prayer and
intimacy even in the midst of His hectic and strenuous ministry.
Secondly, a true prophet
must be true to what he has heard from God. He cannot speak anything from
himself but only from what he has heard. Indeed, the prophet Balaam was
offered money and riches to curse Israel. “Even if Balak gave me all the silver
and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the
command of the Lord my God.” (Num 22:18) But God
told him to bless Israel instead. As a prophet, he had to obey God because
he knew the mind of God. To do otherwise would be to contradict himself
and offend God. Obedience to authority is the sign of a true
prophet. Of course, obedience is only rendered to those things that are
not immoral. When it comes to decision-making, the sign of a true prophet
is when he is able to defer to the legitimate authority even when he is not in
agreement. Except in matters of conscience, dissent sometimes could be
masked. Balaam, although attracted to the riches offered by the pagan king
initially, could not do otherwise than to speak the truth. Jesus too, out
of obedience to His Father, assumed our humanity and throughout His life, He
sought only to do the Father’s will. Whatever the Father willed, He
willed and He spoke what the Father commanded Him to do. “Very truly I tell
you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father
doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (Jn 5:19)
Thirdly, a true prophet
must speak without fear or favor. This was the case of Balaam who spoke
out against the king despite all his warnings. He was not afraid to
offend authorities in speaking the truth. All the prophets in the Old Testament
would only speak the truth to the kings and nobles, especially the need for
conversion and the consequences of being conquered by their
enemies. Even when the kings refused to listen, they would not keep
silent until their prophecy came true. Whereas the false prophets only
said things that the king wanted to hear. They fawned on the king
and gave him false security, just like many of us too who would not tell our
superiors the truth for fear that we lose favour with them. But a true
prophet must speak what is good and true for the people. John the Baptist
was a true prophet because even at the risk of losing his head, he spoke out
against King Herod for his misconduct and all those who abused their
authority. Jesus in the same way did not mince His words when He
reprimanded the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. He did not
say nice things to those who failed to live up to their responsibilities.
Fourthly, a true prophet
must walk the talk. This is the clearest sign of a real prophet; not what
he says but whether he does what he says. If he is so convinced that he
has heard the voice of God then he should be the first to put that word into
practice. Those prophets who live a double life are hardly credible
because they disown their message by their actions. Jesus and the true prophets
lived out what they preached and were mentors for others. It was for this
reason that the religious leaders tried to avoid answering the question of
Jesus with regard to the identity of John the Baptist. On one hand they
refused to accept the baptism of John, on the other hand, if they denied that
he was a prophet, the people would reject them. In the same vein, Jesus
knew that trying to prove His identity would not go very far. So the real
proof of a true prophet is in his or her actions. A prophet by deeds is
itself a great testimony to the truth. Jesus’ identity was shown by His
actions. This was what Jesus told the Jews, that even if they could not
accept His words, at least they should recognize from His works that He came
from the Father.
Finally, a true prophet
speaks the truth from his heart. He does not compromise when truth must
be spoken, even if it offends others. The real problem in the world today
is that many of us are afraid to articulate the truth for fear of
rejection. Like the religious leaders, we all pretend to be
ignorant of the truth. The Jewish religious leaders did not want to
answer Jesus’ question, for if they were to admit that the authority of John
the Baptist came from God, they had to accept the authority of Jesus as the
Messiah because John had made definite references to the Messiah. With
them we say, “We do not know.” If we are silent it is because
we are afraid of rejection, isolation and losing our popularity.
False prophets are not concerned about speaking the truth, but whether it is
safe to say the truth. We are afraid to be martyrs for Christ and for the
truth. Today, most of us speak equivocally so that we can protect
ourselves. This is called being politically correct. We want to
dilute the truth.
As we approach the season
of Christmas, we must seek integrity of life. The coming of Christ cannot
give us peace if we continue to live a double life. So long as we are not
true to ourselves, there can be no joy and happiness in us. Balaam,
although tempted to speak against Israel, realized that he could not do it just
for the rewards but he had to find peace by listening to the Word of God.
So too did John the Baptist. During this time of Advent, we must spend time
listening to the Lord so that He can lead us to the truth. The psalmist
says, “The Lord is good and upright. He shows the path to those who stray. He
guides the humble in the right path, He teaches his way to the poor.” Let
us be courageous and face the truth about ourselves. If there are areas
in our lives that need repentance, let us with God’s grace make the necessary
changes. May we live our lives in such a way that we can be true prophets
of Christ speaking the truth and living out the truth in love. In this
way, we regain our authority to speak and act in Christ’s name.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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