Profit for prophets

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today presents texts which bring reflection on the strength and courage of those who stand up as prophets to exhort people to live moral lives. The text from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah confirms that the strength for prophesy comes from our relationship with God. The words which point out to people that they need to change direction and attend to the will of God and the precepts of Divine Law will not likely be received as ‘welcome feedback’. The Gospel of Mark comments that Herod was aware of the special nature of the moral preaching of John. The words did reach his heart and he was motivated to listen to John. The life style of John demonstrated the way of a righteous person. The power of fear and the inability to lose face and status are shown as extremely difficult traits for people to overcome. As FriarJude Winkler comments, standing up for morality may be costly. John stood and pointed the way to living in accord with the Law. Our baptismal anointing as prophet is our call to stand and declare the moral path as we also demonstrate by our lives that we live in the Way of Christ.