We are members of the prophetic Church. While recognizing our own need for conversion, we bear witness to God’s holiness and justice. We announce the liberating presence of Jesus Christ and the new world born in his resurrection. (Constitution 9)
Being prophetic means hearing, living and communicating the heart and mind of God. A prophetic lifestyle and message communicate God’s guidance and insight into current circumstances. This sums up Eugene’s life and the foundation of his evangelization:
We must lead people to act like human beings, first of all, and then like Christians, and, finally, we must help them to become saints
Preface
Pope Francis gives us a key of reading of this foundational Oblate text:
Consequently, no one can demand that religion should be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life, without influence on societal and national life, without concern for the soundness of civil institutions, without a right to offer an opinion on events affecting society. Who would claim to lock up in a church and silence the message of Saint Francis of Assisi or Blessed Teresa of Calcutta? They themselves would have found this unacceptable. An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it (Evangelii Gaudium n. 183)
“…we bear witness to God’s holiness and justice.” And I find myself asking how I bear witness to God, to the Church and to all I meet? That sounds so holy; yet there is within me a deep place where I acknowledge that the Spirit has allowed me to be and do that. It is a bit odd that I don’t boast about this, I simply thank God and continue on. Of course there are mistakes along the way, but then God has made me to be very human…
I have just returned home after helping and accompanying a friend who has completed the first stage formation and shared with us his discernment process. What a gift was shared with each of us. He might have said: “While recognizing our own need for conversion, we bear witness to God’s holiness and justice.” (Constitution 9). This morning’s experience has been like walking through a garden that is not perfectly manicured; a garden that is filled with beautiful flowers and trees, along with many weeds that seem to keep returning no matter how many times I have pulled them out. It is the weeds that cry out for acknowledgement and if I look closely at the dandelions with their beautiful yellows and the feathering fairy balls that the air catches…
Those dandelions which simply weeds, bright yellow bringers of happiness and then as it dies is transformed into a new way that we see them spread their seeds. It dawns on me (not for the first time) that God needs no manicured lawns or flower beds.
There is a profound hope and trust that God will touch all of us and so we not only listen, but we also ask for healing so as to live and communicate the heart and mind of God. We might not think we have any power to change what is hurting our planet, but once we start to recognize her the change begins.