Who are the true prophets and what does a prophet do? True prophets are those who speak the word of God. Both Elisha in today’s first reading and Jesus in today’s Gospel are prophets. Elisha speaks not his own words but the words and message of God. Jesus not only speaks the word of God but is the Word of God:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1, 14).
Jesus as the Word made flesh is both a blessing and a scandal, particularly among his own as we hear in today’s Gospel: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Jesus’ rejection as a prophet, echoes what the Gospel of John foretold in the Prologue about Jesus the Word and the Light: “He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.” (John 1:10-11).
Today our parish begins our Forty Hour Devotion. For centuries this devotion has been “celebrated as a time of annual renewal and prayer.” It is a time we are called upon to recognize Jesus’ real presence in both the Sacred Scripture and in the Eucharist. The Second Vatican Council calls us to show “reverence” to Jesus’ presence in both the Scripture and in the Eucharist:
“The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body.” (Dei verbum, #21).
This week as we “venerate” the Eucharist we are also called to “venerate” the Sacred Scripture. True veneration should always lead us to action. As we contemplate the Bread of Life, we are called upon to be the Body of Christ in our words and actions. St. Augustine said:
“If you receive them [Body of Christ] well, you are yourselves what you receive [Body of Christ]. You see, the apostle says, We, being many, are one loaf, one body (1 Cor 10:17). That’s how he explained the sacrament of the Lord’s table; one loaf, one body, is what we all are, many though we be.” (St. Augustine, Sermon 227).
Image: “Monstrance. Height 63.5 cms. Base 33 cms. Silver.” by fredericknoronha is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.