Let me state it straightaway (not my habit but this time I will derogate from it): all Christians are potentially Prophets. A gist of what prophecy is is given to us in the Old Testament. But the prophecy that Christ offers us is infinitely much more.
Prophecy grows with us, and within
us, until it reaches a first fullness: the Union with Jesus (remember: “I no
longer live but Christ lives in me”). In this sense, you can have a rather
detailed idea of Christian full prophecy in saint Theresa of Avila’s seventh
Mansion (see her book: “The Interior Castle”), or the last third of the
“Spiritual Canticle” of saint John of the Cross, or his work “The Living Flame
of Love”. Indeed, they do describe the state of the human being when he/she
reached the “Union of Love”.
What is prophecy?
First, when we say “prophecy” or
“prophets”, we often think of people we find in the Old Testament, and we tend
to believe (wrongly) that, with the coming of Christ, prophecy ended. We
understand prophecy by just remembering Moses, Elijah, or Isaiah, or any of the
prophets. We see them as privileged
persons (we don’t have many prophets, when you think about it; for a long
period of time – centuries – the number is proportionally small, we have to
admit it): “privileged” because, at certain moment of their live (often not all
the time), God decides (often for a mission) to talk to them, to give them orders, messages, or something to write
(or a mime to perform). God’s decision to intervene in the life of a human
being gives us the deep perception of a great closeness and knowledge of God: intimacy. This intimacy can lead as
well to miracles (see Elijah, and Elisha,…).
The Prophets don’t always enjoy this
experience though: God seems frightening, too high, too holy (see Isaiah 6, or
often Moses, in the Sinai)! When you get closer to God “it burns”, you might
even die. Indeed: just remember what God says to Moses: I’ll talk to you in the
Mountain, but nobody has to touch the bottom of the mountain, otherwise they’ll
die. They will hear me speaking to you, but they can’t get close. Often, in the
Old Testament people thought that if they get too close to God, they will die.
This is why simply, the people of God asked Him not to talk directly to them;
they feared they might die if the see Him, if they get too close to Him (see
the quote below).
We have to add that, thinking of the
Old Testament, we often consider that “prophecy” is about telling “future events”.
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| Elijah and Elisha |
Jesus, The Prophet
Is this all of it? Certainly not.
This is an incomplete prophecy, and Jesus, the
Real and Only Prophet, will make it complete. Jesus will not only incarnate
real final Prophecy, but He’ll share it with everybody.
In John, chapter 1, people ask John
the Baptist: “are you the Prophet Moses mentioned and that we are expecting?
The Prophet-Messiah.” John says: no. Why? Because all the Prophecy is embodied
in Jesus, and He is the One that Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy. ”The
Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your
fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the
Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not
hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will
die.” (Deut 18:15-16)
Jesus is The Word of God, he brings
us “words” that are Spirit and Life. He is God Himself, nothing less. So when
He speaks, God Himself speaks. In His human nature He has a constant dialogue
with God the Father (or with His own divinity). You can see Him various times
in the Gospel of John speaking to the Father.
He wants to introduce us into His
intimacy with the Father, this is His Goal.
He wants us to receive His Words, to
be transformed by them, and to allow Jesus Himself grow in us, and let us reach
his own height. He wants us as well to have His Words alive in us, and in Him
with Him to transmit them to others.
Prophecy is about being transformed
and be united to the only Prophet and have a share of His Prophecy.
From day one, in our spiritual life,
we are invited, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to hear Jesus talking to us,
giving us our Daily Bread. We do not wait a further stage in spiritual life in
order to be made capable of listening to Jesus, the Risen Lord, today. We are
in the new era inaugurated by Jesus, a so powerful era. Jesus is amongst us and
wants to talk to us.
When we receive His Body and Blood,
his soul and his spirit, his whole person in the Host, we receive the whole
being of The Prophet par excellence. We don’t receive less than Him.
So the intimacy that we see in the
Old Testament, the intimate personal dialogue we witness with the Old Testament
Prophets, we see them not only available in the New Covenant, but totally
developed.
Indeed all Baptised are Prophets.
Indeed all of them received the Spirit of Prophecy, the Holy Spirit.
The only thing is that we tend to
forget about prophecy in the New Testament, while it should be the opposite:
Jesus accomplishes Prophecy and makes it available to everybody. We tend to
think that the Old Testament prophecy is not for everybody, and that what it
offers is “too high” and exceptional. While it is different. Certainly Jesus
clarified the fullness of Prophecy in what it consists, but again and again: He
wants everybody to let is grow in him/her. Let us revive our perfect give of
Prophecy, the ability to receive a daily word from Jesus, and put it into
practise (that is Lectio divina) and receive the Body and Blood of THE Prophet
and be transformed in Him.
You are a Prophet, remember it, and
make your prophecy alive.
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