Yes, our problems are legitimately important. But to become Another Christ is to risk opening up our minds, hearts, and vision to willingly receive the entire world and all its concerns. To love with God's Heart. To share God's Mercy. To be on fire with God's Justice. To be an instrument through which God can pour God's Love, Mercy, Justice, and Peace into a suffering, cynical, and often despairing world.
So - ask yourself - am I living up to the anointing which the Lord has given me to be a prophet? Here are some signs of a true prophet (with quotes from John Dear's "The Beatitudes of Peace: Meditations on the Beatitudes, Peacemaking, and the Spiritual Life," Twenty-Third Publications, 2016.)
1.) A prophet listens attentively to the Word of God and prays over it, so it sinks deep into his heart. A prophet takes time to be silent with God, allowing God to speak to her. God's Word is more important to him than the words of public opinion. Because she knows that God's Word is Ultimate Truth!
2.) A prophet's entire life is centered on God. Day after day, he asks God to reveal His will, to give him, as a Deacon friend, Ken, says, his marching orders...."the prophet does not do his or her own will or speak his or her own message....the prophet tells us who God is and what God wants, and thus who we are and how we can become fully human." How do we become fully human? God says simply, "Harden not your hearts."
3.)A prophet reads the signs of the times, stays concerned and knowledgable about local, national, and world events, and about what is happening within his/her Church. She knows that what's happening "out there" impacts her own backyard, because everyone in the world is family to her; the pain of an African drought victim in South Sudan can pierce her heart as deeply as the illness of her own aunt or uncle.
"The prophet sees the big picture - war, starvation, poverty, corporate greed, nationalism, systemic violence, nuclear weapons, and environmental destruction. The prophet interprets these current realities through God's eyes, not through the eyes of analysts, or pundits, or Pentagon press spokespeople. The prophet tells us God's take on what's happening."
4.) Yes, a prophet takes sides, as God has always taken a side: God - and His prophets - always stand squarely on the side of the poor, the powerless, the marginalized, the voiceless. The prophet is the Voice of the Voiceless!
5.) The prophet of today has the same priorities as the prophets of the Hebrew Bible: Justice and Peace. "They call people to act justly and create a new world of social and economic justice, which will be the basis for a new world of peace. Justice and peace, they learned, are at the heart of God. God wants justice and peace here on earth now. And the prophet wan't shy away from telling us that if we want a spiritual life, we must work for justice and peace."
6.) "Prophets simultaneously announce and denounce. They announce God's reign of justice and peace, and publicly denounce the world's regimes of justice and war. Like Martin Luther King, Jr., they hold high the alternatives of non-violence and disarmament , and lay low the obsolete ways of violence and weapons."
7.) A prophet recognizes that telling the Truth, God's Truth, can result in losing friendships, being called insulting names, losing one's reputation, or even one's life. Yet, in spite of this, there are prophets among us today. Like Fr. James Martin, S.J., who works for justice for the marginalized within the Catholic Church.
"The Rev. James Martin knew his latest book – which urges a dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics who feel estranged from it – would be provocative. Even though the book was approved by his Jesuit superior as in line with church teachings and was endorsed by several cardinals, he did not expect everyone to agree. That’s fine, he said. That’s why dialogue was needed. His public position on this hot-button issue – most recently in his book, “Building a Bridge,” but also in speeches and articles and on social media – has earned him the gratitude of parents of gay children or adults who feel unwelcome at church because of their sexual orientation.
"But his stance has also led to insults and “joking” threats of violenceagainst him. Conservative Catholics have called him “effeminate,” a “homosexualist,” “a heretic,” “pansified” and guilty of “leading young men to perdition.” In recent weeks, campaigns by people opposed to him have prompted three high-profile Catholic groups to disinvite him from events where he was to have been the featured speaker.....
"Of his critics, Father Martin said, even an invitation to listen to L.G.B.T. people has 'unleashed this torrent of hatred. It’s insane. This is about reaching out to people on the margins. But on that issue it tells us that we have a lot to learn. If we can’t even begin a dialogue without a charge of heresy, then we need to take a good look at how we understand the gospel.'
"He had long received desperate messages and impassioned emails seeking counsel or prayer through life’s difficulties, and the publication of “Building A Bridge” prompted even more. He gets about 50 messages daily, in which people talk about things like how a priest would not anoint a dying man in hospice care because he was gay; or how some people were fired from jobs at Catholic institutions because of their sexual orientation.
"Despite the name-calling, innuendo and canceled speeches, Father Martin said he will press on. He has received support from bishops – who request boxes of his latest book — and from his religious order. He will not step back from social media, saying it is part of his order’s tradition to “find God in all things.”
"Yes, even on Twitter.
“'We (the Jesuit Order) are not afraid of going to the margins,” he said. “That is what Pope Benedict and Pope Francis asked us to do. As Francis said to us, go to the peripheries where the Church has not been serving people or where people need it the most. There is no one more marginalized in the Church than L.G.B.T. Catholics. So, I’m right where I should be.'” ("The N.Y. Times," Sept. 16, in an article by David Gonzales.)
In the Sept. 18 edition of "La Croix International," Massimo Faggioli comments,
"The remarkable fact is that the victims of this reaction are not only priests like Fr Martin, but also the institutional Church, and particularly some bishops and cardinals. Martin’s best-selling book, Building a Bridge, has been approved by his Jesuit superior and publicly endorsed by two US cardinals (Kevin Farrell and Joseph Tobin) and several bishops. Other cardinals, such as Blase Cupich in Chicago, have also defended it. It seems pretty clear that the two cardinals with some jurisdiction in the matter, Donald Wuerl in Washington and Timothy Dolan in New York, were trumped by groups like Church Militant – groups with no canonical approval.
"We should remember that two years ago Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia took a clear position against the tactics and the spirit of the Lepanto Institute and of Church Militant. This was on the eve of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States and the World Meeting of Families in Chaput’s diocese."
Fr. Martin, a prophet, has risked opening his heart to become an instrument of God's Love, Mercy, Justice, and Peace to some of the most marginalized people. As a result, he, trying to live out his Baptismal anointing to become Another Christ, has received hatred and insults, and implied threats of violence.
The Catholic Church teaches that a gay or lesbian or bisexual sexual orientation is NOT sinful - it is not a choice - it is an important part of someone's identity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that we are to treat L.G.B.T. people with love, gentleness, and respect. Pope Francis has said that we are not to judge L.G.B.T. Catholics. In fact we are never to make judgements about whether anyone is in a state of sin - God alone judges. And, even if someone has a gay or lesbian ORIENTATION, that does not mean that he or she is necessarily sexually active. There are many celibate gay priests and lesbian religious women and nuns!
Yet, having worked in many Catholic institutions in the past, I can tell you that many gays and lesbians have privately "come out" to me, but none have dared to reveal their orientation publicly to their church congregations. Why is this? Many have contributed to their parishes financially and served in various liturgical roles or other ministries. Yet they are afraid to totally "be themselves." They know the hate crimes, the slurs, the shaming that often occur when straights find out that someone is "different" from themselves. This is sinful. And Fr. Martin, reading the signs of the times, is courageously calling our attention to hate-generated sinful attitudes in the Church.
If we truly want a spiritual life, we must, in our own ways, work for Love, Mercy, Justice, and Peace.
Do we donate to Hurricane Relief Funds to help people who have lost almost everything? Do we join the Sierra Club to work to save this planet? Do we reach out with smiles and kind words to someone of a different race or ethnicity, or someone with a disability? Do we actively demonstrate for a pro-life cause - and any cause for the unborn, poor, marginalized, elderly, mentally ill, refugees, dying, sick, or Mother Earth herself - is a pro-life cause.
Are we courageous enough to publicly say that a President who publicly baits and gives nick-names to a mentally ill North Korean dictator is irresponsibly leading our nation towards war? That our President's Twitter attacks and slurs and little "Fun Videos" showing him assaulting others reveal him to be a violent man, not a Peace-Maker?
Each one of us is called by God to be a prophet, an instrument who allows God's Love, Mercy, Justice, and Peace to pour through our words and actions. Especially to the poor and marginalized. Especially to nations that want to turn in on themselves and ignore the rest of the world. And - if you're a Christian - it's not an option.