Homily for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Old Testament figure, Moses, makes two great statements at the end of our First Reading today, speaking of his hopes for the Hebrew people:

+ “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

+ “Would that the Lord might bestow His Spirit on them all!”

His wish for the people reveals an unspoken disclaimer that he knows that:

+ only a few are given the gift of prophecy

+ the Lord’s Spirit has not been given to all.

Let’s take a look at these two concepts separately, though they are intrinsically linked:

+ first, living as a prophet, as heard in the dialogue between Moses and Joshua in the Book of Numbers

+ and then, living in the Spirit of God, as heard in the dialogue between Jesus and Saint John in Mark’s Gospel.

When we think of Prophets, we generally think of persons who can predict the future, and to some extent, this is true. But, if they can see into the future, it’s not by way of gazing into a crystal ball, but in their ability to see clearly into the human condition in the present moment.

Not many will possess this particular charism, but all of us can move toward living a more prophetic life. And what is meant by “a prophetic life”? It means growing in wisdom to the point of grasping ultimate and eternal truths, and then integrating these revealed truths into one’s worldview to the point of living a virtuous life.

One could think of growth in the virtuous life metaphorically as looking at the world through Catholic eyes. I would suggest a simile in which the connection between the mind and the soul could be compared with the connection between the lens and the retina in the human eye.

We know that the lens turns an observed image upside-down, while the retina puts things right side-up, that is to say, in their proper perspective. In this simile between eye and mind, the eye takes in a plethora of information, seeing things not as they necessarily are (as the eye’s lens turns images upside-down)… then the mind, and after further contemplation, the soul puts things right side-up, or in their proper perspective as does the retina in the human eye.

The soul, formed in faith, and informed by eternal truth interprets the information, virtuously seeing things and people as they really are. What this procedure allows is a slowing-down of the process between making an observation, say, of another person’s appearance, language or behavior, and making a judgment about what was just observed, so that wisdom, understanding, and charity will keep one from rushing to judgment.

To make a prophetic statement, then, means resisting the temptation to spout an opinion, rather to speak to the truth of things and persons with prudence and charity in a manner which will encourage others to seek the truth, growing in virtue as well.

In an election year, candidates may present themselves in a prophetic manner, predicting how the world will improve when they’re elected, but half-truths spoken on the campaign trail give evidence that, in the end, they’re not likely to be prophets, but, most assuredly, politicians.

Saint James, in today’s Second reading, offers an interesting sidebar for an election year: While his words to the wealthy are stark and jarring, they are spoken in charity — that is — in ultimate concern for both the rich and the poor, and the demands that faith makes for justice, mercy and charity.

He does not, however, call for anything resembling a communist revolution, nor does he advocate socialism as a means for forced charity or justice. The real falsehood in both communism and socialism is that they are not based in love for the poor, but in hatred for the rich, or at least envy of them, envy being one of the seven deadly sins.

And both political schemes lead people to godlessness, whether it be atheistic communism murdering the Czar a hundred years ago, or contemporary agnostics simply calling for the redistribution of wealth, without being required to engage the poor in meaningful relationship. It was the late Margaret Thatcher who once quipped: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

Saint James’s pastoral call to the wealthy is a warning against complacency where there is real need. It is Charity, not socialism, that speaks a prophetic message, and Charity is the vocation of all Christians. The complacency of which Saint James speaks provides us with a segue into the Gospel, and our understanding of Life in the Spirit.

Last week we learned that God did not create evil, nor does He simply allow evil in His plan for salvation. Instead, God chose to take a chance on love — true love — in which His Beloved is given the free will to accept or reject God’s Holy Will. It is a refusal or failure to accept God’s Will and His love that becomes the source of evil, proving evil to be a purely human construct.

This week we learn of another manifestation of evil: the failure to extend charity in the competition between two Apostles and an unnamed, would-be prophet, but more so of complacency in the face of sin… our own sin, as well as the sins of others.

The Lord speaks in hyperbole here, an overstatement used to make a point as He spoke of lopping off hands and feet, gouging out eyes. As one priest said to me, “If we were to take the Lord’s statement literally, the pews of my church would be filled with the blind and the lame.”

The Lord is asking us to take the initiative in ridding ourselves of sin in our own lives first, so that genuine and truly prophetic words can be spoken to society at-large. Sainthood is not required here, but our striving for virtue and holiness will create within us a hope for the same growth in others, that we might proceed in speaking with them in prudence and charity.

For example, there has evolved in our society a certain politically-correct complacency misunderstood in the charitable-sounding notion of “tolerance.” In some cases, tolerance of diversity can be virtuous, but intolerance can also be virtuous. In our present highly-charged, politically-correct realm of politics, “tolerance” can devolve into cowardice in the presence of true evil and immorality.

Once again, the Lord asks us to take the initiative in facing evil or at least wrong-headedness with truth, prudence and charity, in order that we might become prophets to our own generation.

The words of Moses come into play here, as he says: “Would that the Lord might bestow the Spirit on them all!” The Spirit, however, can be resisted. It is the bestowing of the Holy Spirit, that by Grace:

+ draws us beyond opinion to truth

+ pulls us out of complacency into holy initiative

+ eliminates falsehood and half-truths in favor of genuine prophecy.

As Moses suggests, not all are given the Spirit. It has been given to many in the Sacrament of Confirmation, but that Grace can wear thin through non-practice of the Faith, so it must be renewed and strengthened in frequent reception of the Sacraments. Therefore, we must keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is the source of wisdom and the cause of all prophecy. We must remain close to the Lord, if, indeed, “… all the people of the Lord were [to be] prophets.”