Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Identity And Mission Of A Prophet

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, July 7, 2024

At our baptism, we are grafted, implanted onto Jesus Christ, who has anointed us as priests, prophets and kings. For the sake of today’s biblical readings, which all have to do with different aspects of being a prophet, we will focus on the identity and mission of a prophet. Who is a prophet? A prophet is someone who speaks the truth of God to others. Every baptized person, not just the ordained or the professed religious but all the baptized of the Church is a prophet.

Our first reading is the account of Ezekiel’s call to prophetic ministry (Ezekiel 2:2-5). Speaking, Ezekiel says that the spirit entered into him. What does that imply? It means that prophesy is never a personal opinion or philosophical conclusion. Authentic prophesy always comes from the Spirit of God. Professors in universities can publish articles and share their thinking and philosophical reflection with the public. Newspaper editors can publish their opinions and conclusions on several national issues. There is nothing wrong with those. As for prophets, they do something different. Inspired and motivated by a power beyond them, prophets speak and act. Like other prophets, Ezekiel feels called and sent: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites.” A prophet is always on mission. Seized by God, a prophet can be inspired by a movie he watched or by a conversation he had with someone or by a catch phrase he saw at the back of a car or by a book or an article he read. The message he gets from any of those events compels him to act and to tell others about it.

To whom is Ezekiel sent? He’s sent to his fellow Israelites described in Ezekiel’s prophecy as “rebels.” In the Bible, some figures were sent to foreigners, to people outside Israel— Moses was sent to Pharaoh by God; Jonah was sent to the Ninevites; Daniel was sent to the Chaldeans. But Ezekiel, like Isaiah, Jeremiah etc. is sent to his own people, to the chosen people of Israel who are rebellious against God. Sincerely speaking, being sent to your own people is the most difficult kind of prophetic ministry. Preaching to your own people who know you, especially weaknesses, who know you when you were not a significant fellow, is the hardest. Preaching to outsiders who simply know you as a religious person is much easier than going to your own friends, family and colleagues. And to make things even more difficult for Ezekiel, he is called upon to speak a challenging and judgmental word to Israel. Let’s face it, truth hurts. No one wants to hear that they are not living up to their calling. No one wants to be told that they have rebelled against God. Even people whose lives have completely gone off kilter and they know it don’t want to be told about the state of their lives. It’s a problem we all have. Even when we know we have lost our way and then someone comes and names the  disloyal towards God, we kick and bulk because we don’t like it. But this is exactly Ezekiel’s mission. This is the message that God is sending him to go and deliver to his own people, Israel. 

Where am I going with this detailed narrative? This story is about us. We’re all prophets! And like Ezekiel, we have been sent to the rebellious house of Israel, which is the Church. The Church is the new Israel. St. Paul says we, the Church, have been grafted on the old vine of Israel (Romans 11:17). Truth be told, everybody, this new Israel, the Church, in many ways has gone into rebellion. How? Vatican II says that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. But how many of our brothers and sisters stay away from the Mass? In 2018, 39% of American Catholics attend Mass weekly. Today, only 20% say they attend Mass weekly, pray daily and consider religion very important in their life. The more we accept every worldly view and blend in with the world, the more we go into rebellion against God. St. James made this very clear in his letter when he states, “Friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4).

If you are baptized, you are a prophet. Is the prophetic ministry going to be easy? Not at all. Speaking to Ezekiel, God warns him that the people he is sending him to are “Hard of face and obstinate of heart.” More to it, God tells Ezekiel, “Whether they heed or resist… they shall know that a prophet is among them.” God sends Ezekiel to his own people to prophesy. God tells Ezekiel that though they won’t listen to him, he should still go. This is Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s principle. She says, “God calls us not to be successful but to be faithful.” We easily get discouraged by the thought of failing. But Mother Teresa is saying, “Don’t worry about it! Leave the long term success to God. That seed you planted that is taking a long time to germinate, could still make it. Just plant the seed and leave the outcome to God. If there’s someone that should be attending Mass but doesn’t, call them! If you know a member of the Church that has wandered intellectually or morally, challenged them. Mind you, embarking on this project won’t make you popular. Biblical prophets were never popular. Look at Jesus himself. As our Gospel for this week tells us, after performing mighty deeds in Galilee and Judea, Jesus returns to his native place and to his own people. There he spoke in the synagogue, and his people responded not with pride in their son, not with enthusiasm but with negative astonishment: “Where did this man get all this? Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary?” They queried. They were basically asking the question, “Who does he think he is?” 

Sisters and brothers, if you face similar opposition when you function as a prophet, don’t be discouraged. Remember you are called to be faithful, and not necessarily successful. As you prophesy to your sisters and brothers, to your friends and neighbors, whether they accept your message or not, whether they change or not, they should at least know that a prophet is among them. 

God bless you!