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Again Jesus entered the
synagogue. There was a man there who had
a withered hand. They watched him
closely to see if he would cure him on the Sabbath so that they might
accuse him. He said to the man with the
withered hand,
“Come up here before us.” Then
he said
to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to
do evil, to
save life rather than to destroy it?” But
they remained silent. Looking
around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he
said to
the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He
stretched it out and his hand was restored. The
Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians
against him to put him to death.
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"Grew
up in a small town and when the rain would fall down, I’d just
stare out my
window, dreaming of what could be, and if I’d end up happy I
would pray. Trying hard to reach out, but
when I tried to
speak out, felt like no one could hear me. Wanted
to belong here but something felt so wrong here. I’ll
spread my wings and I’ll learn how to
fly. I’ll do what it takes till I
touch
the sky. I’ll make a wish, take a
chance, make a change, and breakaway. Out
of the darkness and into the sun, but I won’t forget all the ones
that I love. I’ll take a risk.
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Doing something
different, especially if it can be interpreted the wrong way, often
disturbs
people. Jesus often did things
differently. He cured people on the
Sabbath, a holy day for the Jewish people when healing was forbidden;
he spoke about God as a Father; he
challenged religious leaders to be what they should have been, namely,
true
religious leaders. He took the risk of
helping people when others thought that he should have done it some
other
way. Jesus was a prophet in every sense
of the term. He disturbed the
comfortable while comforting the disturbed.
In her own way, the person in Kelly Clarkson’s song "Breakaway" is a prophet. She looked around her small town in which she grew up, felt stifled, unfulfilled, like “something was wrong,” and decided to act. She decided to take a risk. She broke away from the town, and probably disturbed some people. A prophet is someone who disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed. Both sides of the definition are important. We have to be “prophesied to” that is, we have to be disturbed by modern day prophets. There are things that are not right in our world. Many of us are simply too comfortable. But, just as important, we are also called to comfort the disturbed with the primary message that is outlined in the Gospels, that is, with the message of love. Even as she broke away from her home, the person in Kelly Clarkson’s song kept that idea of love important to her. She did not forget the ones that she loved. Jesus always acted with love. Jesus and Kelly Clarkson tell us to be prophets, but to be prophets who love. |
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THOUGHT
Who are the "prophets" in
today's world?
PRAYER Good and gracious God,
your Son disturbed people
during his time on earth because he did things in a different way,
always with
the goal of loving those who needed love. Give
us the grace to be prophets of love in our world. Be
with us, we pray.
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |