Pope: the true prophet is not a 'prophet of misfortunes', but of hope
He is a man who "prays, looks at God, looks at his people, feels pain when the people are wrong, cries" and of which the Church "needs". "When the prophet arrives at the truth and touches the heart, either the heart opens or the heart becomes more of stone and anger, persecution is unleashed".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The true prophet is not a "prophet of misfortunes", but of hope, a man who "prays, looks at God, looks at his people, feels pain when the people are wrong, cries" and of whom the Church "is in need, " said Pope Francis this during the Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta.
The Pope was inspired by the story of Stephen, the first martyr, proposed today in the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit. You are not consistent with the life that comes from your roots ".
Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, thus accused the people, the elders and the scribes who had dragged him to court. Their hearts were closed, they did not want to hear, and they no longer remembered the history of Israel.
And as the previous prophets had been persecuted by their fathers, so these old men and scribes "furious in their hearts" hurled themselves together against Stephen, "dragged him out of the city and began to stone him".
The Pope commented, " When the prophet arrives at the truth and touches the heart, either the heart opens or the heart becomes more of stone and anger, persecution is unleashed". "Thus ends the life of a prophet".
So often the truth is uncomfortable and not pleasant to hear and Francis observed that "the prophets always have these problems of persecution for telling the truth". "But what is the test that when a prophet speaks the truth? It is when this prophet is able not only to say, but to cry for the people who have abandoned the truth. And Jesus on one hand reproaches with those harsh words; 'Perverse and adulterous generation' for example; But on the other side he cried over Jerusalem. This is the test. A true prophet is one who is able to cry for his people and also to say strong things when he has to say them. He is not lukewarm, he is always thus: direct".
However, continued the Pope, the true prophet is not a "prophet of misfortunes". The true prophet is a prophet of hope. "To open doors, to heal the roots, to restore the belonging to the people of God to go forward. He is not a critic by office ... No, he is a man of hope. He reproaches when it is necessary and opens the doors looking at the horizon of hope. But the true prophet if he does his job well, puts his own skin on the line".
Thus Stephen who dies under the eyes of Saul, is consistent with the truth.
Pope Francis repeated a sentence from one of the first fathers of the Church: "The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians". "The Church needs prophets. I will say more: She needs all of us to be prophets. Not critical, this is another thing. One thing is always the critical judge who does not like anything, nothing is pleasing to him: 'No, this is not good, it's not good, it's not good, it's not good; this must be this way ... '. That is not a prophet. The prophet is the one who prays, looks at God, looks at his people, feels pain when the people are wrong, he cries - he is able to cry over the people - but he is also able to risk everything to tell the truth ". "May the Church never be lacking this service of prophecy, to always go forward".
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11/12/2019 13:04
