July 4, 2021: 14th Sunday B
July 4, 2021: 14th Sunday B
How would you react if I said to you that you were called to be a prophet? ‘No, not me… that’s for the ordained preacher, a priest, deacon, or religious sister.” We may ask, what are the credentials of a prophet? All baptized Christians are called to announce the Word of God. At our baptism ritual, a priest or a deacon pours the water to baptize us. Then the holy oil of sacred chrism is placed on our forehead, and the priest or deacon says, “I anoint you with the chrism of salvation… As Jesus was a priest, prophet and king, so may you also live always as a member of his body.” We are called to be as Jesus was in the prophetic role to speak on behalf of God and God’s truth.
The scriptures tell us that an ordinary shepherd, a fisherman, a tax collector, a former prostitute, and an ordinary carpenter were called to be prophets. Oftentimes though, they were ignored or rejected. The Good News often calls for change of behavior, attitude, or the whole way of life. Sometimes though, those who feel so passionate about preaching the Good News do so at the wrong place, wrong time, wrong people, and wrong way. I remember a few months ago during a daily morning mass at St. George, as I began to preach a homily, a man got up with a bible and began to yell and holler to repent. While some people got up to calm the person, someone mistakenly pulled the emergency box that called the SWAT Team. 12 police cars surrounded the man as he was trying to walk away from the church.
For most of us, being a prophet doesn’t mean that we have to preach at the street corner, at LSU Union, or French Quarters ; being a prophet means living and standing up for the message of Jesus. Being a prophet means to love as Jesus loves. It means standing up with love and mercy when others are ridiculing or belittling our Christian faith. It means stopping off-colored jokes, preventing injustices, treating others with respect, upholding basic human decency, and protecting and serving the vulnerable.
Sometimes our critical attitudes and prejudices can block the blessings and the gifts that God desires to give through our encounter with the other person. What happened to Jesus in the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth is a cautionary tale. Due to their lack of faith and openness, Jesus was unable to be seen for who he was, and he was unable to do good works in his own home town. We are told that the townsfolk took offense at Jesus for he was merely a son of Mary with whom they were so familiar. We wonder how hurt Jesus was by those who had known him the longest---neighbors and friends who had watched him grow. If such rejection happened to us, it would have evoked sharp emotions such as anger, outrage, self-pity, and hurt. What a pity that the townsfolk of Nazareth were not able to receive the grace and blessings from Jesus because of their hardness of heart.
Just because we are treated with contempt does not mean we should stop doing what is right. We may not be recognized or praised for doing good, but God knows our hearts, our desires, and intentions. We serve God and our neighbor not to be applauded and appreciated but to show our thanksgiving to God. Mother Teresa’s well-known prayer comes to mind, “People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway…The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway… in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; it was never between you and them anyway.”
If we approach the other person with refusal to understand, then we will misunderstand. If we approach the other person with refusal to see no other point of view other than ours, then we will see no other. However, if we approach the other person with love for Christ and a desire to love the other, then even those who are separated can come together in Christ. Every person on this earth has a special mission. Through prayer, we can discover God’s plan for our lives and also appreciate the plan that God has for our family, neighbors, friends, and co-workers.
