Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 2, 2023
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070223.cfm
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings instruct us on the nature of prophecy.
Walter Bruggemann, in his transformational book “The Prophetic Imagination” writes about prophets. He indicates that prophets emerge in the context of “totalism” – those paralyzing systems which attempt to control and dominate all freedom and possibility.
Totalism kills ideas, hope, freedom, choice, self-determination, and creativity for the sake of controlling reality for its own advantage. Totalism is the ultimate “abusive relationship“. Examples in our society include cults, hate groups, mob rule, or any relationship that subjugates another’s free will.
Brueggemann defines the prophet as one engaged in these three tasks to restore hope and freedom:
- the prophet is clear on the force and illegitimacy of the totalism.
- the prophet pronounces the truth about the force of the totalism that contradicts the purpose of God.
- the prophet articulates the alternative world that God has promised, and that God is actually creating within the chaos around us.
Our first reading comes from the Second Book of Kings which was written about 600 years before Christ. The Jewish people experienced the totalism of the Babylonian Captivity.. First and Second Kings was written to help the people understand their situation, to remain faithful to God, and to move toward freedom.
These two books are full of powerful figures pulling the people both toward and away from God – biblical Baddies and Goodies who carried profound messages about faith or its abandonment.
One of the Goodies is Elisha the Prophet whom we meet in today’s verses. Elisha confronts barrenness and death with the transformative power of faith. The Summanite woman is able to benefit from this power because she believes.
In our second reading, Paul doesn’t use the word “prophet” but he talks about the Resurrection Power we receive through our Baptism. This power calls us and confirms us as bearers of God’s transformative Word in a hostile and unfree world.
In our Gospel, Jesus is direct with his disciples about the rewards which fall to those who have prophetic faith:
“Whoever receives you receives me,
Matthew 10:40-42
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because the little one is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
So, are we actually called to be prophets? The answer is YES. We are called by the Gospel and through our Baptism to do what Walter Brueggemann describes above:
- to name the structures of unfreedom in our lives and in our world
- to speak truth and stand against those things which contradict God’s Mercy and Love
- to witness hope and courage by the joyous, generous service of our lives
Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash
Poetry: Onto a Vast Plane – Rainer Maria Rilke
You are not surprised at the force of the storm—
you have seen it growing.
The trees flee. Their flight
sets the boulevards streaming. And you know:
he whom they flee is the one
you move toward. All your senses
sing him, as you stand at the window.
The weeks stood still in summer.
The trees’ blood rose. Now you feel
it wants to sink back
into the source of everything. You thought
you could trust that power
when you plucked the fruit:
now it becomes a riddle again
and you again a stranger.
Summer was like your house: you know
where each thing stood.
Now you must go out into your heart
as onto a vast plain. Now
the immense loneliness begins.
The days go numb, the wind
sucks the world from your senses like withered leaves.
Through the empty branches the sky remains.
It is what you have.
Be earth now, and evensong.
Be the ground lying under that sky.
Be modest now, like a thing
ripened until it is real,
so that he who began it all
can feel you when he reaches for you.
Music: When the Prophet Speaks – Van Morrison (lyrics below)
When the prophet speaks, mostly no one listens When the prophet speaks and no one hears Only those who have ears to listen Only those that are trained to hear Come closer now, I'll tell you what they whisper Closer now, we'll whisper it in your ear What big ears you've got when you get the details Do you understand, do I make it clear? When the prophet speaks, yeah, no one listens When the prophet speaks, mostly no one hears Only those that are trained to listen Only those who have ears to hear When the prophet speaks, yeah, no one listens Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby Don't you have no fear You gotta get the truth on what is happening When the prophet speaks, have to make it clear Come closer now and I will whisper Whisper the secret in your ear What thick ears you've got when you get all the details Do you understand, do I make myself clear? When the prophet speaks, you've got to listen When the prophet speaks, you've got to get the truth When the prophet speaks, don't need no explanation When the prophet speaks, have to make it move Prophet speaks, no one listens When the prophet speaks, mainly nobody hears Only those that are trained to listen Only those who have ears to hear
Lavish Mercy 