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Written by Msgr. David Ratermann
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Sunday, 31 January 2010 |
Msgr. Ratermann is a founder of the Latin America Apostolate, and served in Bolivia from 1956 to 2008.
 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time “C”
Rdg. 1. Jeremiah tells us how he was chosen to be a prophet even before he was born.
Rdg. 2. Paul describes, insofar as that is possible, God’s way of loving; and he notes that we are destined to live that love forever. Faith and hope will cease; yet love will go on forever.
Rdg. 3. Jesus challenged his fellow citizens of Nazareth to live and love as God does. And what happened? They were scandalized; they rejected Him and even wanted to kill Him.
In our readings for today, as usual, there’s a relation between the first reading and the Gospel. In the first reading, Jeremiah identifies himself as a PROPHET, who is, chosen by God to announce God’s Word, God’s Truth. And Jeremiah is aware that it’s a dangerous job, a certain way to get into trouble. Jeremiah had lots of trouble. And so did Jesus, even in his home town.
So when Jesus visited his home town he started acting like a prophet and right away he got into some very serious trouble. His fellow citizens wanted to kill him. That’s what happens to prophets. Two weeks ago we honored Martin Luther King as a great prophet. But that honor came YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH. Prophets are not honored while they are still alive, much less in their own country. And you know what? That’s just what also happened to Jesus. He was brutally killed, like the worst possible criminal. And it was after he rose from the dead that public honor came his way. It was even years after his death and resurrection before we Christians could put a cross on top of our churches! In the Roman Empire our Christian forbears did not even have churches. And those who practiced their faith openly were also put to death. Being a prophet was dangerous also in those days. Is the situation different today? Are we really different from the folks in Nazareth?
Let’s suppose that I could get a real bully pulpit... I would shout to the world that war is evil, that it is totally wrong. I would shout that war does not solve problems. It just makes them worse. I’d shout that our annual military budget of nearly a trillion dollars is a terrible mockery of human rights. And what would happen? I might get myself killed. Or maybe, I’d just be ignored.
It actually happened just that way to none other than Pope John Paul II. Back in 1982 (28 years ago) Pope John Paul II was on a pastoral visit to England. At that time the British were preparing to go to war because of a disagreement over ownership of the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic some distance off the coast of Argentina. The Pope was brave enough to challenge the British. Even though he was there as a highly honored guest, he spoke these words: “Today, the scale and the horror of modern warfare – whether nuclear or not – makes it totally unacceptable as a means of settling differences between nations. War should belong to the tragic past, to history; it should find no place on humanity’s agenda for the future.” And Pope John Paul II was ignored. 600 Argentine soldiers were killed. How many civilians were killed? We don’t know.
The fact that prophets have a hard time of it, that many of them get killed does not diminish the need for prophets today. Our world is on the brink of even more terrible disasters. We are approaching the time when we could demolish the planet which is our home. We need to pray:
LORD, SEND US PROPHETS!
LORD, SEND US HOLY PROPHETS!
LORD, SEND US MANY HOLY PROPHETS!
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