{"id":224,"date":"2012-07-08T12:32:43","date_gmt":"2012-07-08T17:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=224"},"modified":"2012-07-08T12:32:43","modified_gmt":"2012-07-08T17:32:43","slug":"prophets-in-our-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=224","title":{"rendered":"Prophets in Our Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/o:o:p><\/span><\/h2>\n

Ez 2: 2-5; 2 Cor 12: 7-10; Mk 6: 1-6<\/o:o:p><\/span><\/h3>\n

By Deacon Larry Brockman<\/o:o:p><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Have you ever thought of Jesus as a prophet?\u00a0 <\/span>According to Webster\u2019s Dictionary, a prophet is \u201cOne who utters divinely inspired revelations\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus certainly fulfilled that role.\u00a0 <\/span>He told everyone about the coming of the Kingdom of God, but people didn\u2019t want to hear about Jesus\u2019 Kingdom.\u00a0 <\/span>They wanted to hear about an earthly Kingdom.\u00a0 <\/span>People wanted the Kingdom of Israel restored.\u00a0 <\/span>They wanted the occupation of the Romans to end with its stifling taxation and government control their lives.\u00a0 <\/span>They wanted a Jewish King and an Israeli State that would restore good times. They wanted prosperity on earth; a land full of milk and honey; and lots of money too!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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But Jesus didn\u2019t talk about their kind of kingdom.\u00a0 <\/span>He had a different concern, and that was his saving message.\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus talked about a conversion of the heart- one that started with repentance for one\u2019s sins and Faith in God\u2019s providence and will for them.\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus talked about living their faith so that they could become part of an eternal kingdom.\u00a0 <\/span>And so, the people remarked: \u201cWhere did he get all this from?\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>You see, they had lived right alongside of Jesus; he was known to them; and they didn\u2019t see him following the path of a Rabbi.\u00a0 <\/span>Far from it, Jesus was self-taught, and was not a disciple of one of their rabbis as their customs required.\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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And yet, there was something about Jesus\u2019 teaching that rang true.\u00a0 <\/span>Indeed, a call for conversion of the heart wakes our consciences out of a slumber.\u00a0 <\/span>And Jesus also spoke with authority and with confidence.\u00a0 <\/span>His teaching came from a deep seated conviction that they could all sense.\u00a0 <\/span>But they didn\u2019t accept it as authentic, because their culture didn\u2019t condone Jesus as a teacher.\u00a0 <\/span>He didn\u2019t have a rabbi\u2019s training or credentials.\u00a0 <\/span>He didn\u2019t talk about their kind of Kingdom.\u00a0 <\/span>And so, they kept on their own course, and were not open- they were of little faith that God had sent someone special to them. \u00a0<\/span>And so, Jesus could not do great things for them because they rejected him and his message.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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You know, real prophets have never been very popular.\u00a0 <\/span>They shake people up, because they tell the truth- the message that God wants them to proclaim.\u00a0 <\/span>Most of the time, that message doesn\u2019t match the people\u2019s concerns; but it may be the core of what\u2019s wrong with society because God sees differently. \u00a0<\/span>God sees the core of the problem.\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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In the first reading, God tells Ezekiel to hold firm and to speak with resolve in God\u2019s name, whatever God inspires him to say; so that even if the people reject the message, they will know that a prophet has been amongst them.\u00a0 <\/span>Prophets over all time have had to follow this advice.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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We live in a world that rejects prophets just like the Israelis did.\u00a0 <\/span>We are concerned with jobs and taxes and inflation and health insurance; and rightly so, because these are problems in our society.\u00a0 <\/span>But what is the root cause of these problems?\u00a0 <\/span>What is it that God wants us to know about his plan forward?\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s what the modern prophets of God will speak to.\u00a0 <\/span>And what is the message that we are hearing from our modern day prophets- led by the Church and the Pope and the Bishops?\u00a0 <\/span>It is one of love and compassion and holding to the teachings of the Church.\u00a0 <\/span>These prophets speak of the importance of the right to life; the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman; and the rights of all people, even illegal immigrants, victims of human trafficking, and the poor.\u00a0 <\/span>And many of the spokesmen for the Church- prophets if you will, are right amongst us. \u00a0<\/span>They are our own.\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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Some people wonder where \u201cthey get all this from\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>The answer is simple.\u00a0 <\/span>They get the substance of their message from the Catechism because the Catechism summarizes the Scripture and traditional teachings of the Church; but they get the inspiration to speak up from God because it burns within them until they speak out, just like it burned within Ezekiel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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Nowadays, the Church\u2019s message seems to be more and more passionate as the problems gets worse. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>First, the US Bishops have spoken as a group on all the major moral issues.\u00a0 <\/span>Second, as the attacks on our conscience rights by our Government have intensified; and as the pro-choice and gay rights movements have gotten more aggressive, prophets have risen from amongst us, people like Cardinal Dolan and Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life.\u00a0 <\/span>And they are relentlessly bombarding us with the truth, and appealing to us to mend our ways and repent.\u00a0 <\/span>They are calling us to action as well.\u00a0 <\/span>But, are we listening? Are we responding?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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During our recent Fortnight for Freedom the parish held all kinds of events to give us the opportunity to pray as a group; to sacrifice our time and desires in order to listen and respond to God.\u00a0 <\/span>These events also provided educational opportunities, ways in which we could find out what the Church teaches and why.\u00a0 <\/span>Lastly, we were taught how we could respond; how we could help change things.\u00a0 <\/span>There were several hundred people involved, and that is great.\u00a0 <\/span>But what about the thousands of others in our parish?\u00a0 <\/span>Where were they?\u00a0 <\/span>Did they ignore the message because it was just more of the same?\u00a0 <\/span>After all, aren\u2019t these people just part of our own community; and \u201cwhere did they get all this from\u201d and \u201cwho gives them this authority\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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Perhaps people feel that they are powerless to do anything.\u00a0 <\/span>In which case, we need only to listen to Paul\u2019s words this morning.\u00a0 <\/span>Paul was given \u201ca thorn in the flesh\u201d that burdened him.\u00a0 <\/span>And ultimately, he came to the conclusion that God would give him sufficient grace to overcome his weakness.\u00a0 <\/span>Indeed, God gives all of us sufficient grace to overcome our weaknesses.\u00a0 <\/span>All of us can do great things, especially together.\u00a0 <\/span>We can all pray, and we can all sacrifice some of our time to listen to God\u2019s call and give Him the opportunity to lead us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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The jury is out on us American Catholics.\u00a0 <\/span>Are we listening to the modern day prophets?\u00a0 <\/span>Our current Government has decided not to enforce the Marriage Act; is mandating that our Catholic Institutions pay for and provide insurance that violates our moral principles; has cut off funding to Catholic Charities to care for Human Trafficking victims because we won\u2019t offer victims to birth control and other services; and has changed the law to publicly fund abortion.\u00a0 <\/span>But we all have an opportunity to do something about it this year.\u00a0 <\/span>Will we be like the Israelis in Ezekiel\u2019s times, who hardened their hearts; or the people in Jesus home town who rejected one of their own?.\u00a0 <\/span>Or will we listen to our modern day prophets?\u00a0 <\/span>The choice is yours.<\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ez 2: 2-5; 2 Cor 12: 7-10; Mk 6: 1-6 By Deacon Larry Brockman \u00a0 Have you ever thought of Jesus as a prophet?\u00a0 According to Webster\u2019s Dictionary, a prophet is \u201cOne who utters divinely inspired revelations\u201d.\u00a0 Jesus certainly fulfilled that role.\u00a0 He told everyone about the coming of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[146,145,135],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}