by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace
Most of us probably do not remember our Baptism because, of course, we were almost all of us infants when we were baptized, but there is a very important part of that ceremony of Baptism that we should reflect on regularly. After the priest has poured the water on the person to be baptized, and through that beautiful symbol has taken that person through being buried in the death of Jesus, and rising to new life in Jesus, after that the priest, deacon or minister anoints the person with holy chrism, and says, “As Jesus was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, so may you live always as a member of His body.”
In other words, may you be priest, prophet and king like Jesus. If we listen to today’s readings, we’ll learn something about especially that role of prophet. Not many of us would think of ourselves as being called to be prophets, but in fact, we are. It’s part of our carrying on the work of Jesus who was a prophet. We think of Jesus as a wonderworker, the healer, the compassionate, the healing person who has drawn all people through Himself through love, but we don’t think very often of Jesus the Prophet.
Today, we will explore that and see what it means for Him and other prophets, and for us who are called through our Baptism, to be prophets. First of all, we ask ourselves what is a prophet? Sometimes, I suppose, we’re caught up with the idea that a prophet is someone who predicts the future, who can foresee what is going to come in the future. That really isn’t what we mean by a prophet, by those God calls to be prophets. It has nothing to do with predicting the future. A prophet is one who speaks on behalf of God…