This is how a song from a few years ago came up. It said that the prophets of other times had given the people hope and given them the strength to love and to live in brotherhood, to overcome lies and oppression, to be free and responsible. But now, the song said, we no longer find the prophets near us. And we wonder in anguish where they are.
The reality is that for a Christian the prophet is already among us. There is no more prophet but only Jesus. And everyone else who somehow receives that name does so by reference to him. Jesus carries with him that authority which defines the prophet. It is an authority that is not born of violence or force, but of the Spirit that possesses the prophet.
It is the authority that the inhabitants of Capernaum recognised without hesitation when they saw how Jesus liberated that man possessed by an impure spirit and gave him back his being, his freedom. Twice the Gospel of this day says Jesus taught with authority and not like the teachers of the law. Therein lies the difference between the prophet and the teacher.
The second teaches from what he has studied. He does nothing but repeat, perhaps in a better or newer order, what has already been said. It may even be that something new will come up. But it is the fruit of his efforts. The prophet, on the contrary, is dominated by the Spirit of God, communicates in a new way and people who listen to him feel that what he says reaches him to the depths. And when he gets there, he heals and cures, liberates and reconciles, and gives life forever. This is the clearest sign that the prophet is authentic: when his words and actions are a source of life for those who meet him.
Jesus is the prophet. And he remains alive among us. His word continues to echo in our Churches, in the Bible that we have in our house and with which we meditate and pray with the Word, in the lives of so many men and women who have committed themselves to being his disciples, to following in his footsteps in their concrete lives, as priests, as married people, as religious men and women. Jesus is our prophet. And many Christians and men and women of good faith are prophets of God. With their lives they proclaim the God of Life. There is no need to be anxious.
We must open our eyes and discover the witnesses of life and liberation around us. They are the prophets who enlighten our journey so that we may follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
For your reflection
Do I know any person who teaches with authority, like Jesus? What is the most striking thing about his life? Is my life a prophetic sign for those who live with me, for my family, my friends? What would I have to change to be more so?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Abridged by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
