Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 Luke 4:21-30

From those who wish to hurl us down the heights, like Jesus, deliver us oh Lord! But is this a Christian prayer, seeking deliverance from our persecutors? How does a Christian survive the age of ISIL and Boko Haram? At least, nobody doubts that these are dangerous days for the Christian Faith, even among other Christians: just attempt telling your neighbors that their dress code is not Christian or that they need to go to church on Sunday; or, again, tell someone that bad people will go to hell of fires, etc. the icy-looks that await you, the flack you get and the isolation or ostracism which accrues to you – that fellow is a bigot and politically incorrect, they will say.

Yet, every baptized person is called to be a prophet in this dangerous times: God calls Jeremiah today, and he wants you to hear him calling you and me today to pick up and dust clean our prophetic robes, received at baptism – you and I are the unyielding and bold prophets who owe our dangerous times the example of love. To be a prophet is to be an activist for love! A prophet dies promoting the power of love, love that makes us stick out our heads, like John the Baptist, in defense of the right for everyone to be loved, especially when they are vulnerable!

The joy of being a prophet is that the script is already in hand – this is a stubborn people, but do not be dismayed for I am with you, says our first reading. The God who calls knows how perilous the mission is, but he gives the assurance of his presence and his help: “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:19). If all were well, the call of Jeremiah would have been useless; cutting corners is not the job of a prophet, it is precisely because people were cutting corners that a prophet is needed: truthfulness has disappeared from human lips and authenticity has evaporated from human live, so a rugged person, a prophet is here, you and I are here to make a difference, for our times is no different from Jeremiah’s.

“When the going gets tough,” goes an American saying, “the tough gets going.” The question is: what toughens “the tough” and what gets “the tough” going? The answer is simple – the power of LOVE! According to our second reading, Paul says that there are three ways to be related to God: through faith, hope and love; but Paul weighs them all and passes this verdict: “there are three things that last, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

You know, we human beings are smart; we come up with films and cartoons like Spider-Man and Superman in order to teach our children resilience in good action and the ultimate triumph of good over evil; we encourage one another to see meaning in life, while hoping for a brighter day should we be going through a stormy life; if we do all these, it is because God does the same thing for us, and we copy God by doing likewise. Being a prophet is the same thing – finding reason, of course from God’s words, in order to love and serve our brothers and sisters in their material and spiritual needs. Like a parent putting up with her/his child’s attitude believing that change is inevitable, positive change, that is. This too is the attitude of a prophet: that love changes the meaning of persecution and incomprehension; that stubbornness is not all the human person is capable of; a prophet keeps hope alive, a prophet makes love perceptible, a prophet makes faith concrete through what he/she suffers and what he/she puts up with!

Imagine the marriages that are written off, but still hold up flickers and glimmers of hope; think of those human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, whom we call hardened sinners, that God’s grace and hard work turns around; look at those children considered delinquent and good for nothing, who go on to become great men and women in life; those so-called heretics who turned out as shapers of theology and avant-garde Christians and saints. A prophet finds his call in God’s call, a God which refuses to give up on humanity, even if the life of his only begotten Son will be required of him; a God who sees only goodness in his creatures as long as they live; who does not condemn despite human judgment and condemnation. Yes, love is the ingredient most and urgently necessary for a prophetic life.

The workings of love, as Paul outlines them in our second reading, render “impossibility” an unChristian word – with love, everything is possible; we are to love until it hurts the body but saves the soul!

We are prophets because:
Progressive love dwells in us,
Resolute conviction of the goodness of our brothers and sisters animate us,
Ordinariness of human beings are proofs of God’s presence in human life,
Purposefulness is all we need see in the actions of others,
Happiness is the desire of all,
Enthusiasm keeps us working against all odds,
Toughness comes to us because we love everyone,
PROPHET!

Words such as “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” (Luke 4:22), from our gospel today, announce the inevitable arrival of cynics. The good news is that every prophetic mandate comes from God via the Holy Spirit, so every true prophet has an immunity to such a remark; Jesus surely does because he sees that as an occasion to dialogue with cynics, offering them the opportunity to enjoy God’s “year of favor.” Indeed, Jesus escapes their plot to hurl him down the cliff, albeit, for the moment; Jeremiah also, will escape deportation to Babylon; who says that God hasn’t got our backs?

Assignment for the Week:

If you have an enemy, could you send a flower to or invite him/her for a meal/drink?