Where Do We Find the Prophets of Today?
Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily from September 4, 2005
"Thus says
the Lord: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel:
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me." Ezechiel 33:7
RECENTLY I HEARD OF A YOUNG priest who took as
his text a line from the second reading:" You shall not commit adultery".
He ranted and raved about wife swapping and other hedonistic practices that
were rampant in the parish. On the way out of church a husband turned to his
wife: "Are we the only couple in this parish that is not having fun?"
We do not hear so many warnings from the pulpit any more about sexual immorality.
With the clergy sex abuse scandal the laity might respond,"Physician heal
thyself". So the clergy have lost their voice. Some feel that they have
lost their voice on other matters also. The ethics of warfare is now left to
politicians. The moral theologians and the hierarchy do not want to offend,
despite Vatican utterances.
Yet it is clear that the scriptures call for a prophetic witness. The watchman
must speak his unpleasant truth, even when it leads to the Cross. Ezekiel warned
Jerusalem about the destruction of the temple. The city would be razed to the
ground and its inhabitants evacuated to Babylon. "How can we sing the songs
of Zion in a strange land?" The refugees hung up their harps on the willow
trees. Ezekiel foresaw this calamity. In this crisis he saw the finger of God.
The society had not remained faithful to the values of the covenant; justice
and mercy were nowhere in evidence.
Where do we find the watchmen and the prophets today? Perhaps they occupy a
variety of roles. Maybe the women who blew the whistle on Enron spoke the prophetic
truth. Professionals in the CIA and other agencies sometimes choose their professional
integrity at the expense of job security.
In the recent hurricane it is easy to play the Monday morning quarterback;
yet there were journalists who had predicted this calamity months before in
frightening detail. It would have been too costly to pay heed.
While the first response to this catastrophe has to be spiritual and practical
support, our nation also needs to take a deeper look at the signs of the times.
We need to have a fresh commitment to care for God's creation. We need to consider
why the worst hit were the poorest. People who live on less than $10,000 a year,
a quarter of the ward most affected in New Orleans, do not have transportation.
Labor Day is an appropriate time to work for a community where there is greater
equity and where the fruits of work are more fairly distributed.
May the efforts at rescue and relief lead to a deeper sense of solidarity that
will yield the longer-term benefits of justice, integrity and care for the good
earth. May the voices of the prophets lead us to a new covenant. May each of
us who was anointed and confirmed with the chrism of prophecy lay the foundations
of that covenant in the unvarnished truth.
"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Ps 95:1
