On Being a Prophet
In the first reading from our scriptures last weekend, the prophet Ezekiel heard the spirit of the Lord speaking to him, sending him to the camp of the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against God. God chose to send Ezekiel to a place where people really needed God, to a place where the people seem to have abandoned God, and abandoned their faith. Sounds familiar? Maybe because the people who live in our world today have also abandoned their faith.
Two years ago, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris caught fire. And of course, there was quite a lot of damage done. Many of our Catholics were posting on social media about how sad the situation was, and about how sad it was that such a beautiful Church had been destroyed. But how many of us actually were crying over the fact that people in Europe have abandoned their faith, rather than for the destruction of a Church which is also in fact a tourist attraction? The Churches in Europe are almost empty during Mass on Sunday. The Churches in Australia (at least the one where one of our Singaporean friars is currently based in) barely get 50 people coming together to celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday. Isn’t that sadder than the destruction of a tourist attraction? Why aren’t we more affected by that?
And let’s not go so far. Even here in Singapore, where the Churches are packed on Sundays, are we really a people who are on fire for Christ? How many of our Catholics have left the Church, and have stopped coming to Mass? How many of our lapsed Catholics have moved over to become protestants, simply because the Catholic Church in Singapore can easily be the coldest place on earth, even though that’s not how it’s supposed to be? How many of our friends have abandoned God, and have turned to a life of sin, like the people in the first reading? Are we affected by that?
Chances are, and I am also guilty of this, is that we aren’t so affected by such things. Many of us simply think it’s enough to do our part by coming to Mass on Sundays. Many of us have a strong prayer life, and we do what we can to build the kingdom of God here on earth by donating to the poor, by giving money to the Church, and by giving of our time to serve in ministry. And don’t get me wrong, I am in no way putting any of this down. Certainty, I am most grateful to all our benefactors, to all our donors, to all our ministry leaders and volunteers. You are playing a part in building up the kingdom of God and as the bishop always says, lay people are co-responsible with the clergy and religious. But perhaps there’s something more we need to do. Perhaps there’s something deeper we need to look into in living out life as a Christian.
On the day of our baptism, we are all anointed with the oil of Chrism. This word Chrism, comes from the word Christ, which means the messiah, or the anointed one. And so on the day of our baptism, we take on the role of Christ as priest, prophet and king. All of us are called to be prophet just like Ezekiel and all the prophets in the old testament, all of us are called to prepare the way for Christ to enter into the lives of others, especially for our brothers and sisters who are truly in need of salvation.
In fact, the Church places a lot of emphasis on our role as prophets. Every morning, during the Morning Prayer in the liturgy of the hours, we pray the Benedictus (or Zachariah’s canticle) which reminds us to be prophets, to go before the Lord to make a way for him.
So as much as many of us are prayerful people, which is of course necessary, and as much as many of us try to do something for the kingdom of God, perhaps our scriptures today invite us to reflect on whether or not all that we are doing is helping us to live out our baptismal call to be prophets. Perhaps it’s time for us to do some serious reflection on whether or not we have been helping Christ to enter into the lives of others, especially those who have abandoned their faith. And if not, what can we do about it? How can we reach out to such people?
However, a word of caution. Living out our role as prophets doesn’t always mean we will see results. God was very clear in the first reading when he tells Ezekiel, “Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.” There will be people who reject the message of salvation that we preach by our lives. There may be people who still choose to reject the love which our God offers, and the truth that our Church offers. Even St. Francis wasn’t always successful. When he went to preach the good news to the Muslim camps, he did not convert the sultan to Christianity. And our Gospel today also reminds us of that where Jesus also faced rejection because of what he preached.
In fact, Jesus says that a prophet is only despised in his own country, and that’s really us sometimes, myself included. Sometimes we don’t listen to our parents or family members, but we listen to our friends. So when we exercise our roles as prophets, we must be careful not to just convert them. Our role is to PREPARE the way for Christ to enter. Our role is to share the message of salvation and love, but it is not our job to decide for others whether or not they want to accept it. Doing so would be an act of pride, as our psalmist sings in our responsorial psalm, that our souls are too full with the scorn of the rich, with the proud man’s disdain.
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