prophets of our Time



Prophets are seldom recognized in their own time. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekial, Micah, all the Old Testament prophets failed to be accepted by their communities. They often suffered abuse and rejection by their own people. It was no different for Jesus who was persecuted and endured an excruciating death from his own people whose leaders betrayed him. 

In more recent times it is no surprise that Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton met opposition during their lifetimes.They spoke against injustices and advocated a change in the way others were treated. Mahatma Ghandi led his people to break the chains of English control of India through non-violent action. King is considered a hero by all Americans, but especially Black Americans for his cry for justice. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. who spoke out for women's rights, especially the right to vote, overcame much prejudice. After their deaths they were honored as prophets, as people who spoke truth to power.

Who are our prophets today? I would propose Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, and Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist from Sweden. Mandela succeeded in bringing about a peaceful revolution in South Africa. Romero advocated for an end to the persecutions of the poor indigenous people in El Salvador in the 1990s. Thunberg speaks boldly about the need to make immediate, critical changes to save our planet Earth. The first two are dead but their hard work endures and serves as models for other countries.Thunberg, who continues to spread her ardent message around the world, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

There are certainly other prophets who will rise up in our day, but we need to be careful of the false prophets around us."Only someone who is open to God’s surprises can become a prophet." (Pope Francis)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Limping to God I come to you, God, weather-beaten and limping, asking for forgiveness for all the times I have failed to be faithful and attentive to all those around me, especially the elderly who have run the race, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, who need my care and concern.     Is there any hope for these old bones? What will it take to change my limp into a surge of energy and a ready step? Teach me to become more caring, more responsive, more aware. Give me eyes to see and the will to act on my good intentions.   Water my dried up spirit and shriveled body, expand my shrunken heart. Give me eyes to see what you are leading me to do even as my bones creak and my legs become unsteady. Make me remember that I am here to serve, to listen, to be ready to be your hands and feet today.   Barbara Mayer, OSB    
Read more
Image
    “Wonderfully Made” When I took a college English course, our first assignment was to write an essay about whether we would rather lose our sight or lose our legs. It was a thought-provoking choice. If we became blind, we would miss seeing our loved ones and all the beauty of our world. If we could not walk, we would be hindered from traveling and moving around without help. I chose to keep my eyesight since I love to read and write and enjoy the variety and beauty that surrounds us.   Of course, I’m glad I didn’t have to make that choice in real life, but it was a thought-provoking assignment. It made me think about how much we take our bodies for granted. I began to think about all the organs, veins, arteries, canals, nerves, and bones we have in our bodies and how they all work together to keep us alive and healthy. It is not until we lose one of them that we realize how magnificent we are, created in the “image and likeness of God.” God loves each and every one of us as if
Read more
Image
  Overcoming Discouragement Sometimes discouragement and failure take over our lives, and we cannot seem to crawl out of our hole. Even if in reality they are not a true picture, we can be blinded by the seeming darkness.  It often takes another person to uncover what is hidden from us and to see through the cloudy picture.  I am reminded of a story about Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He tells of how he felt his dream of starting a group for people with drinking problems was not going anywhere. Then unexpectedly Father Dowling, a disheveled priest, came to his door in the middle of a snowstorm. Bill’s caretaker told him that a “damn bum” was at the door. Bill was tired but agreed to see him and in doing so had his “second conversion experience.” Bil and Father Dowling talked way into the night, and Bill told of his “high hopes and plans, and spoke about his anger, despair and mounting frustrations.”  It turned out that the elderly priest had had similar feel
Read more