Spirituality
Virtue Ethics
Where Have All the Prophets Gone?
Are we in a moral collapse right now in this country? We seem to have lost our way.
Late-term abortions, which signify a total disregard for basic human life; lack of compassion for those at our southern border who only wish for a better and safer life for themselves and their children: avoidance of doing what is necessary to save our planet; an unreasonable stubbornness in passing gun control laws despite multiple school shootings in the past twenty years. The list goes on.
Except for a few brave souls who speak out against injustice and violence, there doesn’t seem to be the kind of public outcry that would change minds and hearts.
Which brings me to think we need more prophets today; men and women sensitive to the call from God to be God’s spokespersons on the dignity of the human person – from conception to expiration (womb to the tomb). Prophets come in all “sizes” – parents teaching their children gospel values; preachers talking about all the life issues in their sermons, politicians voting their conscience, and so forth.
Prophets place their ultimate trust in God because they know they will face some opposition to their message. Consider the prophet Jeremiah of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), who was wise enough to know he couldn’t be a messenger of God’s moral voice relying on his own strength:
“The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.”
(Chapter 20:11)
People who speak up for the rights of others need to do their homework on the issues, but they need to be also people of prayer. Prayer might not be our natural response to what we read in the newspaper or find on social media, but as the late theologian Karl Rahner said, “the news is the scripture of the world.” Here is a method for making the news part of your prayer:
Late-term abortions, which signify a total disregard for basic human life; lack of compassion for those at our southern border who only wish for a better and safer life for themselves and their children: avoidance of doing what is necessary to save our planet; an unreasonable stubbornness in passing gun control laws despite multiple school shootings in the past twenty years. The list goes on.
Except for a few brave souls who speak out against injustice and violence, there doesn’t seem to be the kind of public outcry that would change minds and hearts.
Which brings me to think we need more prophets today; men and women sensitive to the call from God to be God’s spokespersons on the dignity of the human person – from conception to expiration (womb to the tomb). Prophets come in all “sizes” – parents teaching their children gospel values; preachers talking about all the life issues in their sermons, politicians voting their conscience, and so forth.
Prophets place their ultimate trust in God because they know they will face some opposition to their message. Consider the prophet Jeremiah of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), who was wise enough to know he couldn’t be a messenger of God’s moral voice relying on his own strength:
“The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.”
(Chapter 20:11)
People who speak up for the rights of others need to do their homework on the issues, but they need to be also people of prayer. Prayer might not be our natural response to what we read in the newspaper or find on social media, but as the late theologian Karl Rahner said, “the news is the scripture of the world.” Here is a method for making the news part of your prayer:
- Choose an article or story that has some human interest in it.
- Pray for anyone in the story who is a victim (s).
- Next, pray for anyone in the story who is assisting the victim, e.g., first responders, a good Samaritan, etc., for their safety.
- Pray for the conversion of any oppressors in the story; they can be from any walk of life: ordinary citizens or people in power.
Finally, pray for yourself. Do you need deeper compassion, greater generosity, freedom from a prejudice, or more courage to speak the truth.
This is a form of intercessory prayer and it is very effective because after all is said and done, God’s power is greater than human power.