Daily Reflection Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

 The Jewish scholar, Abraham Heschel, told us that a prophet is someone who witnesses to God, someone who is to make God audible and to reveal not only God’s will but inner life. The prophet hears God’s voice and looks at the world from God’s perspective. If, then, we have been called to be prophet, what does this mean in our ordinary daily lives?

    For the next several weeks we will be pondering the Scriptural writings of and about the prophets. In today’s first reading we observe God calling Samuel in his sleep. Of course, Samuel does not realize that it is God calling him until Eli re-assures him. “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will” is Samuel’s response. We could spend a whole eight- day retreat just on those words! When Samuel responds, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” he is responding to his call to be a prophet. We may not have been called by God in our sleep or in any extraordinary way. Yet, by virtue of our Baptism, we are all called to be prophets. At our Baptism, the priest prayed over us: “As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.”

    In order for us to view the world from God’s perspective, we need to get to know God on a much deeper level. For this friendship to be intimate and to understand what is required of us, we need to spend time with God: time speaking with God in conversation, time listening to God, quiet, undistracted time. When we realize that we have this role of prophet within us, we can become overwhelmed with a task far beyond us. Praying with the Scriptures, chewing on God’s messages to us, savoring the goodness, we are then asked to live these words. Yes, this task is overwhelming! IF we allow God’s words to marinate in our hearts, we will know what to do.

    Spending this quiet time with God not only opens our hearts to the suffering and needs around us, but gives us the wisdom and courage to witness to God by our actions. This realization is not just theory. Our continual friendship with God helps us not only to see the poverty, the loneliness, the depression, the need for understanding among those around us, but inspires us to be creative in lessening the pain. Our actions of justice, understanding, and kindness to others (not just to those we like, but to ALL), is our witnessing to God—our living our role as prophet.

    Our gospel today describes Jesus in his role as prophet. He is curing the sick, casting out demons. Then notice how Jesus needs to go off alone so that he can have private time in prayer with his Father. What a model as prophet is Jesus for us!

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“Here I am, Lord” by St. Louis Jesuit