In the Gospel today Jesus goes back to His home town of Nazareth. He preaches in the local synagogue and people are amazed by what they hear. “Where did He get all this wisdom from?” they asked. Through His teaching and His miracles Jesus challenges their understanding of what a Jewish Messiah should be. The people become angry that He has disturbed their domesticated idea of God and of themselves. “Who does He think He is? He is getting above himself. He is a carpenter. After all, He has grown up with us and we know His family.” And they shut their minds and hearts to Him. Jesus should not have been too surprised by their reaction, for He knew that this is what had happened to prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah throughout Jewish history. Who are prophets? They are the ones who offer a different vision of our society, a vision sanctioned by the word they receive from God. They point out the bonds of the covenant that linked God to God’s people and bound the people to one another are being broken. But the prophets who have the courage to speak the words God wants His people to hear often have to pay the price for such temerity just as their predecessors did.
The prophetic vocation is an integral part of our Christian faith. How else can the Lord warn His people of their failures to keep His covenant of justice? But such a calling often results in the suffering, even the death, of the prophet and that is why many of us feel rather uneasy about these disturbing voices. There are times, in the world, in the Church, in our country, or even in more domestic situations, when we know something should be done. Do we have the courage to be even a little bit prophetic over some issue of justice, or at least to open ourselves to listen to a prophetic voice? We may hesitate, for we know of the inevitable discomfort and change that it may bring. But how else will a society be healed unless a word is spoken? Ezekiel reminds us of God’s calling: “Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.”