4th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Prophetic Call

Readings:

• Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19. Jeremiah’s call to prophesy; his strength against all opposition.
• 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13. The hymn of Love
• Luke 4:21-30. Jesus’ first discourse at Nazareth leads to rejection, even to a threat against his life.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

The readings for this Sunday revolve around the position and responsibilities of a prophet. Jeremiah describes his own calling By God to be “A prophet to the nations.” Jesus Christ emphasizes his prophetic mission by taking up the prophetic responsibilities that are described by Isaiah. The second reading is St. Paul’s famous hymn of love. St. Paul places the virtue of love above all other virtues and as he describes spiritual gift of prophecy he reminds us that the ability to comprehend all mysteries and knowledge is for nothing if it is not done for love.

A prophet is one who critiques society and conventional laws based on the articles of faith and our limited ability to discern the Divine law. If you consider the 8^th Century Prophets especially Micah and Amos you see that their critique was not limited to only spiritual matters. In fact they usually addressed socio-economic issues. This is precisely what Isaiah is describing in the selection that Jesus is reading: “He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” This selection from Isaiah is a central message for Jesus in proclaiming the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom is both spiritual and social. It is a Kingdom yet to come in God’s own time but it is also a Kingdom that Jesus expects his followers to initiate within their own society. For that reason the early Christian community established a communal life in Act 2:42 to initiate a social lifestyle based on the Kingdom of God.

Our Christian theology tells us that Christ transcended the structures of society by fulfilling the three great social roles of his day in Himself. Jesus Christ is Priest, Prophet and King for us who are called to be children of God. He is Priest in that he fulfilled the perfect mediation between heaven and earth through his one sacrifice. He is Prophet in that he revealed to us the Will of God and critiqued society based on Will of God. He was King in that through His divinity he has power on heaven and earth and is the supreme ruler of the Universe. In following Jesus we are not merely applying a spiritual asceticism but we are submitting ourselves to a Divine Will that governs all aspects of our existence. There is no separation of the spiritual, natural and social realms. The Kingdom of God transcends all dimensions. It develops an appropriate spirituality establishing communion between us and the author of creation and it is the basis for critiquing unjust social structures and establishing social policies that value the common good. Vatican II’s document on the laity reminds us that we who are baptized into the Body of Christ have these same responsibilities: “As sharers in the role of Christ as priest, prophet, and king, the laity have their work cut out for them in the life and activity of the Church.”           

In our own day a prophetic role would be very similar to some non-governmental organizations. Think tanks usually offer social critiques to legislation or policies that do not conform to the particular mission of the organization. Project oriented organizations attempt to establish some kind community program again in alignment to the mission of the organization. Faith based institutions such as the Catholic Church have also organized a variety of organizations which are prophetic in nature. Catholic Relief Services, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and Catholic Charities are such organizations. Catholic Religious communities have also organized valuable organizations like the Center of Concern and NETWORK. It was with this intention that the Passionists organized a Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office. Our Church is the vehicle for promoting the vision of the Kingdom of God in its priestly, prophetic and kingly dimensions. Going to Church on Sunday is only the first step in engaging this vision. The sacrifice of the Mass gives us the spiritual context for applying our own prophetic responsibilities. Participating with the recent March for Life is one such prophetic task that the Church organizes for us. In a few weeks a number of Catholic organizations will organize another advocacy event on immigration and economic justice. With the recent earthquake in Haiti the Catholic Church and many religious communities have called us and our nations to act justly and with great charity to those who suffered from this natural disaster.  This is the prophetic task we are called to fulfill.

We are called to be prophets. The example of Jeremiah and Jesus tells us that this will not be easy. We are definitely being challenged outside of our comfort zone to critique our own society and that may not make us socially popular. But God promises to be with us, even when we feel abandoned. Jeremiah and Jesus suffered greatly for their prophetic ministries. But again their reward is not a matter of national honor but the service of the Kingdom of God. Empires and nations come and go. The Kingdom of God is eternal.

As we serve the prophetic challenges in our own society let us keep in mind St. Paul’s admonition to always remember the virtue of love. It is our duty to challenge society on issues that violate the Gospel message but we do this within the framework of God’s love for all humanity. We raise issues of abortion, immigration and economic justice not to cast judgment or to divide a nation. We raise these issues because through these policies we help fulfill a vision for the Kingdom of God which is ultimately meant to unite the human family and all creation with God. If we raise these issues in a way that is divisive or to serve a partisan agenda then we are being political rather than prophetic.