COLLECT: “DRAW NEAR TO YOUR SERVANTS, O LORD, AND ANSWER THEIR PRAYERS WITH UNCEASING KINDNESS, THAT, FOR THOSE WHO GLORY IN YOU AS THEIR CREATOR AND GUIDE, YOU RESTORE WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED AND KEEP SAFE WHAT YOU HAVE RESTORED. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Jer 28:1-17 and Mt 14:13-21.
One aspect of true and genuine prophecy is to let people know the mind of God without watering down the message of God or compromising it to favour the listener and/or the preacher. However, in our contemporary times, this has not always been the case. We have a lot of prophets and prophetesses or men and women of God who alter the message of God (sometimes they even alter the scriptures) to suit their purposes as well as the purposes of their listeners so that their listeners can favour them.
Today’s portion from the Book of Jeremiah presents a contrast between a true prophet/prophecy (Jeremiah) and a false one (Hananiah). False prophecies always contain messages everyone likes. Hananiah came out with such a message at his time. He declared that God would soon bring relief from all the people’s sufferings and oppressors. Don’t we hear such prophecies and messages from some men/women of God in our time? For instance, we hear so-called commanding messages like: “I release you from your sickness, from your poverty, from your failures, from worries, from your so and so, etc. Jeremiah had to admit that Hananiah’s words echoed his own wishes. They were not from God. God’s words are always true, whether positive or negative.
Genuine prophecies are mostly unpopular, and very often a lot of people do not want to hear such prophecies. Jeremiah’s message was unpopular as he revealed the mind of God to them, pointing to wars, woes and disasters that would come if the people did not repent and convert. Jeremiah was even accused of not being for them but was against them. It must be noted that a true prophet’s prophecies always come true. False prophecies will never come to pass. False prophecies are clouded with lies and deceitful words that very often bring false hope and false comfort to the people. For more about true prophecies/prophets, confer Deut 13, 18:20-22).
The true prophet, like Jesus (Cf. Mt 14:13-21), will always have pity and mercy on the people he/she is dealing with and will always look for ways and means to lift and raise them up from their plight and suffering and lead them to God. Again, a true prophet of God is willing to sacrifice his/her own preferences to minister to the people. You do not capitalise on their plight and exploit or extort them with messages or prophecies that contain false hope and comfort, as well as with messages that will never be realised. We should therefore be on the alert and be careful about prophecies. Any prophet with his/her prophecy that contains only hopeful and comforting messages and solutions for our challenges and problems in life must be critically looked at. Therefore, prophetic messages like: “You shall be rich next month or so”, “You shall be driving in a posh car next year”, “You shall acquire a visa next year to go to America in two months”, “You shall find a marriage partner next week and give birth to a child next year”, etc., etc. should be critically looked at. We scarcely hear about the cross of Christ, which every disciple or believer must carry in his/her life and follow the Lord. Remember, there is no salvation and glory without the cross, no Easter Sunday without Good Friday, and there is no enjoyment without suffering. May the Lord enlighten us to always differentiate between true and false prophets/prophecies, and may he help us to adhere to true prophets and their messages and be saved. Stay blessed and good day.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, MONDAY, ON THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES: ‘THE ANNUNCIATION, THE VISITATION, THE BIRTH OF JESUS, THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE AND THE FINDING OF THE CHILD JESUS IN THE TEMPLE’. (LET US PRAY FOR HUMILITY, LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR, POVERTY IN SPIRIT, OBEDIENCE AND JOY IN FINDING JESUS) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “O GOD, WHO GAVE US SAINT ALPHONSUS TO BE A FAITHFUL STEWARD AND PREACHER OF THIS GREAT MYSTERY, GRANT THAT YOUR FAITHFUL MAY RECEIVE IT OFTEN AND, RECEIVING IT, PRAISE YOU WITHOUT END. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN.”
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com.
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