Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Ezekiel 2:2-5 – These rebels shall know that there is a prophet among them.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 122(123) – Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 – The Lord’s power is at its best in weakness.

Gospel: Mark 6:1-6 – ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country’.

The word “prophet” has become one of those words that have been bastardized in its modern usage. To be a “prophet” in the manner in which the concept is being used and understood today, is to have the ability to predict the future; to be a soothsayer; to have the “power” to work miracles and wonders; to have thousands of followers and cheerleaders routing for one, etc. In a word, to be a prophet, as is currently (mis)understood, is to be a flamboyant rock star trotting round the globe in a private jet, all in the name of going for crusades. Today’s so-called prophets behave and act like kings, seeking recognitions from high and low. However, all these are misconceptions that have little to do with the biblical idea of a prophet. A biblical prophet is one who is despised and rejected because he tells the truth and challenges the status quo. His motivation is not to become a king but to challenge kings. Most of them were hated and vilified during their lifetime. They were not popular figures as we erroneously think of them today. Their prophecies were codified long after they had died and gone. It is only when we read such prophecies in hindsight that we think that the prophets were kind of superhuman beings who exuded some aura of invincibility, and as such, were considered extraordinary during their time. In actual fact, they were rather considered as social misfits and disruptors of the social order. Most of the time, they found themselves in the crossfire between the powers that be and the people they were trying to protect from such powers. On the one hand, while the authorities sought to silence them because they were a torn in their flesh; on the other hand, the people did not embrace them because, not only were they challenging them to amend their ways, the prophets were ordinary people they were familiar with, with nothing exceptional about them. In short, a biblical prophet is so ordinary and so familiar that, in consequence, he is mostly ignored. The saying that too much familiarity breeds contempt is very true of the biblical prophets.

We tend to look down on things that are very common to us. Anything that is common tends to lose its value and appreciation. We think that common things are inferior things. But, let’s reflect a little bit: the commonest things in life are the most precious. Air, water, and light are the three commonest elements in life; but no one can survive without any of them. Again, the commonest person in the world is one’s mother. But nobody could have survived without his/her mother. Therefore, the “despise the common” syndrome that we practice has no basis in reality.

It was this “despise the common” syndrome that made the Jews not to accept Jesus. Jesus, the prophet, was so common to them. They knew him and his family in and out. They were waiting for an uncommon and a supra terrestrial messiah; instead, they got a common carpenter’s son who was only getting them into undesirable problems with the Roman authorities. In the gospel of today, Jesus voiced his frustration at his own people when his commonness among them could not allow his people to accept him. The people’s reason for rejecting him was not that he didn’t have wisdom or that he didn’t work miracles. They acknowledged that he had such abundant wisdom and worked several miracles. Yet, they just couldn’t take him serious because they knew him as a carpenter’s son, the son of Mary. They knew his brothers and sister by name. Therefore, this common carpenter’s son could not be a prophet as far as they were concerned. But Jesus said to them: “A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house”. Long before the rejection of Jesus by his own people, Yahweh warned the prophet Ezekiel in today’s first reading that his own people might reject him. Describing the people as “rebels”, “defiant” and “obstinate”, Yahweh encouraged Ezekiel to go and confront them because, “whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them”. In other words, Ezekiel was forewarned that he was not going to be popular among the people. Such unpopularity is actually what makes the biblical prophets. In the second reading, St. Paul did not fare any better. Like all true prophets, he was bemoaning the presence of his more popular rivals who were boasting of their achievements and miracles while criticizing Paul for not being as popular and well accepted as they were. This passage is extracted from the so-called “tearful letter” (2 Cor. Chapters 10-13). In today’s passage, Paul confesses that each time he was tempted to play to the gallery in order to become as popular as his opponents, he becomes agonizingly aware of “a thorn in the flesh” which he says, was deliberately given to him by God to stop him from getting too proud. We were not told what that thorn in the flesh was. But Paul says that each time he prays for it to be removed, the Lord assured him that, “My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness”. In other words, Paul lived with such maltreatment and difficulties as a true prophet because, as he said, “it is when I am weak that I am strong”.

Nowadays, our self-proclaimed prophets have absolutely nothing in common with the biblical prophets. They seek to gain popularity by telling the people what the people want to hear and not necessarily the truth. They mystify themselves and make themselves scarce to avoid being regarded as “common”; and this in order to increase their chances of becoming popular among the people. They enjoy the adulations given to them by the people and live like kings. Today, the world has too many kings and too many priests and men of God, but very few prophets. But what the world really needs are prophets. To be a prophet is challenging. A hymn popularized by Liverpool fans is entitled, “You will never walk alone”. As a prophet however, you will always walk alone; and this is terrifying for many. But as a prophet, you may walk alone but you are never alone because the grace of God is enough for you.

We must all strive to be prophets, not by quoting the Bible recklessly or by gathering followers around us, but by standing up to truth and what is right. We must become prophets by telling the people what they may not like to hear, but what we know is right for them. But we must be prepared to become unpopular among the people just like all the biblical prophets were unpopular among their contemporaries. Prophecy has nothing to do with popularity or extraordinariness; prophecy has everything to do with being prepared to walk alone by being consistent with the truth. How many of us are prepared to become such a prophet?