"The Dangerous Life of the Prophet"
Today's Mass Readings
Today’s readings teach that the life of the prophet is deadly. Indeed, of the many recurring themes found in the Old Testament, the one which links prophecy with certain death is among the most prevalent; most of the prophets of Ancient Israel were persecuted and killed by their own people. The Second Vatican Council teaches that as disciples of Jesus, each of us is called to share in Christ’s threefold ministry as priest, prophet and king (cf. Lumen Gentium). It therefore goes without saying that as prophets each of us is also called to lay down our lives in prophetic witness to the Gospel. Yet, from the relative comfort of Middle America, the prospect of dying for our faith seems remote. How then may we relate today’s readings to the particulars of our contemporary Christian situation? I’d like to suggest three practical ways in which today’s readings are relevant to the current Middle American context. First, prophecy is not glorious. It involves suffering and death, sometimes quite literally, as in the case of Archbishop Oscar Romero, and sometimes in more subtle ways, as in the case of Mother Theresa, who spent her life working in the slums of Calcutta. Paradoxically, most Americans (as did most people living in the time of Christ) associate positions of prominence with the rewards of fame and fortune, with wealth, adulation and power. Scripture makes clear that the greatest in God’s kingdom are rewarded with just the opposite. They are hated and persecuted, plotted against and killed. In today’s Gospel, Jesus answers requests for power by saying, “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” Perhaps there are so few holy people today because there are so few people who are willing to accept a life of slavery to Christ. Or perhaps, as is more likely the case, there are millions of holy people all around us, and we fail to see them because we look for them in all the wrong places.
Second, speaking the truth is dangerous. Speaking up as the prophets did against contemporary issues (like immigration, the environment, or the War in Iraq) will thankfully not lead to physical death for most of us, but it will certainly not win us any popularity contests either. We will lose friends. Our neighbors will snicker at us. Our family members will ostracize us. In most cases prophetic Christian witnessing will lead to suffering and loss. In some cases it may even lead to persecution, if not open hostility. Understandably, few Christians today make the difficult choice to confront injustice. There are many reasons for this failure. Part of the problem seems to be that we prefer to avoid the discomfort which necessarily comes from confrontation with others. However, part of it also seems to be that our faith necessarily brings us into conflict with our nation’s political ideology. Jesus and the prophets are clear evidence that faith always has political consequences. In America, this leads to further discomfort.
Third, our own people will hate us. Today’s first reading begins by telling us that, “The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem” were plotting to kill the prophet Jeremiah. Jesus too is rejected and killed by his own people. In the New Testament Jesus repeatedly states that the prophets are scorned and rejected by their own families and friends (for example, see Luke 4:24). In today’s Gospel from Matthew Christ states that his disciples too will be forced to drink from the chalice of suffering. The lesson in Scripture is clear. The most bitter opposition, suffering and loss we will endure for prophetically speaking the truth will not come from the outside, from our enemies, but rather from the inside, from those closest to us.
The prophets are a reminder that when faith becomes comfortable, something is wrong. It is the very complacency of faith that Jesus, Jeremiah and all of the prophets challenged in their struggle against the corruption of the Ancient Israel they inhabited. In a similar way, when Christians today find themselves “comfortable” a red flag should immediately be raised, for as long as sin and death remain in the world, the work of Christian discipleship, and thus of prophetic witnessing, is not yet finished.
- Michael Lombardo