Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 1, 2015
Dear Parishioners,
I am sure there is a custom in most families to occasionally review the colorful characters in their ancestral history.
I must confess to one very jolly, roly-poly uncle in my family history who always fascinated me. He was known as “Uncle Bert.” A photo in an old album portrays him standing alongside his fancy new Buick. He is dressed in his “business suit,” nicely pressed, sporting a flower in his lapel and a flat-topped straw hat that many “dandy men” wore in those times.
Uncle Bert was a man who did not fit the mold of our family. Rather, he was a man of the road, a salesman and purveyor of schemes. Never rich, he nonetheless enjoyed his lifestyle. What he was best known for was the “ability” to tell fortunes for a small fee. I’m sure this career did not last long inasmuch as many of his predictions and other schemes often came to naught as a hoax. Nonetheless, he was a happy man, working daily at his “career.” He thought of himself as something of a “prophet.” The title gave the semblance of weight and credibility to his “trade,” but he did not have a great fortune to leave to his heirs.
The thought of Bert, our “family prophet,” and his questionable profession, came to me as I read the scriptures for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Both, the First Reading from the Jewish Testament of Deuteronomy and the Gospel speak of the power of prophecy. In Moses’ day, the people were terrified that God might address them personally concerning their transgressions. “No,” Moses assures them, “a prophet will do that.” In truth, the Jewish prophets often proved more critical of their peoples’ ways than God himself might have.
Jesus too often impressed his synagogue audiences with his authoritative preaching. He did not need the permission of the scribes to proclaim God’s word. He spoke on his own. People were astonished and pleased with his independent spirit.
All of which brings us to the topic of prophets of our own time. They are not fortune-tellers or seers, and yet in a sense they are “seers” inasmuch as they have the insight to “see” into their own times and speak to those times with the courage of their convictions.
Speaking your mind and your convictions with candor will often get you into trouble as it has ancient and modern prophets. Nonetheless, like Moses and Jesus, it is important to speak with the authority of our convictions when the occasion calls for it. Some folks may be a bit astonished by it, but better that than to be embarrassed by not saying anything at all.
Have a good day, and be kind to others!
Fr. Leonard+