MONDAY, EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Jer 28: 1-17 Ps 119:29,43,79,80,95,102 Mt 14: 13-21
THE DECEPTION OF PLEASING TALK
Hananiah the false prophet, conveys to the people pleasant things that are to happen in the days to come. It is very convenient and praise-worthy to speak and listen to wonderful things. But the truth is realistic, and even hurting. Prophet Jeremiah’s message to the people was most often unpleasant to his audience. He reprimands Israel to give up its evil habits and return to Yahweh, the true God. His listeners paid no heed to what Yahweh spoke through the mouth of the prophet, but persecuted Jeremiah mercilessly. Yet he was always faithful to his God. Whatever Yahweh asked him to convey, even though it was bitter to utter and hard to stomach, the prophet carried out faithfully, and dutifully. He could not do otherwise, for he was the chosen instrument of God.
A true prophet has an immediate experience of God. He is one to whom the holiness and will of God have been revealed. He contemplates the present and the future through the eyes of God. He is sent, to remind the people of their duty towards God and to bring them back to obedience and love. Prophecy thus understood is a thing peculiar to Israel, a providential instrument of God, for the guidance of the chosen people. Hananiah’s phenomenal behaviour is so spectacular. Jeremiah challenges him outright and the outcome is glaring. His prophecies never came true, and he was murdered.
The opening scene of today’s gospel is the death of John the Baptizer. Jesus withdrew to a desert place after he received the sad news, to be by himself and to talk to his Abba about it, but his solitude did not last as the shepherdless sheep gathered around him increasingly. Jesus yields to the Father’s will. Each one of us is called to be a genuine prophet, to bear witness to the Truth. May the true spirit of the prophets infect us as we yearn to be true disciples and proclaimers of the prophet par excellence – Jesus Christ.
Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.
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