Posted on septiembre 27, 2024 View all Gospel Reflection
«Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!»
In this phrase Moses declares a truth that is sometimes not readily perceived. We can easily say to ourselves that we are not prophetic, that we are not charismatic. But the Moses really is pointing to the reality that if we seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then we cannot help but be prophetic. We need not be prophetic in the charismatic style, but to be prophetic is to speak the truth in the name of the Lord and not for our own gain. When the young man told Moses that there were two others who had prophesied in the camp but were not with the seventy elders that had gathered with Moses, he reminded them that we are all called to live as prophets. We are all called to live in such a way that the Lord would bestow his spirit upon us all.
To live as a prophet is to live as one who points to God and a way of life that is beyond merely earthly pleasures. When we look in the Old Testament (and even in the New Testament with St. John the Baptist) we see how most of the prophets came from the Essene community of the Jews. These prophets lived in simplicity. Unfortunately it is very easy to focus on material goods and to confuse that with a life in communion with the Lord. On the one hand people can say how some folks consider their wealth a blessing of God because of their support for good causes such as Pro-Life or Pro-Family. And how others can justify living self-indulgently because they support socialist ideals and work to provide generous assistance to programs for the poor. But the hypocrisy of each of these positions is that they use their positions to justify a selfishness that is contrary to the Gospel since it comes at the expense of others.
Jesus calls us to live in this prophetic manner. He calls us to be prophets in our current age. He calls us to holiness. But how to do this is the question at hand. Jesus says rather starkly to cut off those things that cause us to sin. Cut off your hand. Cut off your foot. Pluck out your eye. “Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna…” (Mk. 9:47)
Our challenge this week is to do a deep examination of our life. What are the areas that cause us to sin? Perhaps they are mortal sins, or maybe just venial sins. But Jesus wants us to live avoiding even venial sins! Do we have issues with custody of our eyes? Do we look at things on our devices that we should not be looking at? Do we go places or take things that are not for our spiritual growth? Are we greedy or gluttonous with our consumption of food or other activities like gaming or hobbies? Make a plan to trim those areas back. We should take heart from Jesus’ words that even if we can only offer a small cup of water by our sacrifices, we will surely not lose our reward. Let us be prophetic examples to the world of the truth of Christ and may we do so with our words, our actions and our very lives.
