Word to the Wise
Friday, August 3, 2012 - Friday in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jer 26:1-9 and Matt 13:54-58]When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord bade him speak to all the people, the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying, "You must be put to death! Why do you prophesy in the name of the Lord: 'This house shall be like Shiloh,' and 'This city shall be desolate and deserted'?" And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
A lynch mob was forming and Jeremiah was lucky to escape death. He was protected by a politically important person on this occasion, Ahikam, son of Shaphan the scribe. People can get very upset by prophets who tell them the truth about themselves! In the gospel scripture today, Matthew recounts Jesus' attempt to preach in his home town of Nazareth. He was rejected there.
Who are the prophets of our time? It is not always easy to tell! In Jeremiah's time, "prophets" could be figures in royal courts. Jeremiah and other biblical prophets frequently denounced "false prophets" who simply told the rulers and the people what they wanted to hear. The surest way to discern a true prophet and true prophecy is to ask if the message calls us to return to the basic covenant of truth and conduct that forms God's relationship with humanity. Do the message and the messenger speak in conformity with the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Christ? Is there some distortion that seeks to give support to dubious conduct and belief? Are we simply being told what we want to hear instead of what is true? What made Jeremiah and Jesus so controversial is that they refused to "compromise" about the truth.
During this election year, there are all kinds of dire prophecies being voiced. If we let our faith shape our politics instead of the other way around, we will have a sure way to know which prophets and prophecies have the ring of truth about them. AMEN