Jeremiah 26: 1-9; Psalm 69; Matthew 13: 54-58 Prophets comfort or confront the people and the powerful. Today we hear the Lord’s promise of disaster unless the people listen to Jeremiah. “Then the priests and prophets and all the people laid hold of him.” The gospel corresponds: the people of Nazareth took offense at Jesus, disdaining him as “the carpenter’s son.” Jesus’ response remains a prophetic consolation to our day: “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and their own house.” In 1989 the US leaders of women and men religious met together to decide what their desired future would look like in 2010. Above all, religious would be noted for their contemplative and prophetic stance. They would challenge unjust structures in church and in society. It is 2010. We have well protested injustice in the “country”, but “in our own house,” the church? Many stand for a more inclusive church, for health care (while abhorring abortion) for the poor, for … You fill in the blanks. Lay or vowed religious, because of your baptism, you share Jesus’ prophetic mission. Pray for courage, and for willingness to welcome the prophet.
Give us the gift of discernment, Holy Spirit, so that we may make wise decisions and take wise actions on behalf of justice. Thank you for Jesus’ mission.