Never with hatred, always with charity!

Bells bong, bets placed on Superbowl Sunday... yet another type of bell thunders... the voice of the prophet

The local boy is heralded as a gifted preacher! The people marveled at the appealing discourse that came from his lips. They liked what they heard. "The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to give sight to the blind, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim a year of favor!" Then the challenge came and many walked away. So began Jesus' prophetic words!



So what is prophecy? From the Greek meaning, the word signifies "one who speaks before others." Ancient prophets like Jeremiah whom Jesus admired were often muted, especially when they spoke out against political injustice and war. Jeremiah's preaching spanned 40 years of his life in the 7th century. He called for repentance and begged his people to amend their ways. For the most part, his message fell on deaf ears, especially when he seemed to take the side of the ancient Iraqis. To challenge is never easy in any century. Some years ago the late John-Paul II in analyzing the situation on modern day Iraq humbly voiced an opinion. Now it's too late. Too many deaths. We've had national examples in Abe Lincoln speaking out against the immorality of slavery; M.L.King on the injustices to Afro-Americans. Perhaps we've or had some examples in our own families of those who spoke out against any form of wrong doing. So what do we learn? From praise to anger, we're told in Jesus' time: the people sprang to their feet and hustled him out of town intending to throw him over a cliff. Blind anger does precisely that - it blinds! Calmly with a non-violent stand, Jesus walks away. In exercising our prophetic vocation, we need not be afraid. We should speak boldly and with conviction just like the prophets of old and new. Never with hatred, always with charity!