The role of the Prophet

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

I have been thinking about the prophets in Israel. In our daily Mass readings we have begun to read from the prophets in recent weeks. We began with Amos, then last week we read from Hosea and now we are commencing reading from the great prophet, Isaiah.

The rise of the prophetic tradition in Israel was an extraordinary phenomenon. The archetypal prophet was, of course, Elijah. He features each year on this feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It was he who represented the prophetic tradition at the Transfiguration.

Prophets lived on the edges. They lived on the edges of the established religion of Israel. They had to be on the edges as they needed a place of independence from which to speak. They were not part of the establishment. There was always the danger that if a prophet became such his prophetic voice was compromised. Indeed, false prophets were often called out as such by their authentic counterparts.

A prophet had to be unfettered from any loyalties or obligations, so that they had the freedom to speak the Word of God with complete integrity.

They also lived on the edges of the society. Many physically lived outside the normal structures of social life. Elijah dwelt on Mount
Carmel. John the Baptist emerged from the wilderness beyond the Jordan. It was from the isolation and silence of the wilderness that the voice of God could be heard.

Today’s reading captures the prophet fully engaged with his task. Elijah was focussed on seeking the will and purposes of God. He was alert to the first signs of God’s action and was able to convey this to the king. The prophet was singularly centred to what God wanted to convey. Thus, he had to be spiritually alert, ready to recognise the movements of God.

A prophet dwells primarily in the spiritual realm. He is a man of prayer, indeed, completely immersed in prayer. He waits on God. He is attentive to God. He is required to have a contemplative spirit.

The prophets moved among the people as men of God. They were men whose hearts and minds were so captured by God that they were able to see what most could not see. They were able to sense the mind and will of God when many just fulfilled their religious duties, and were spiritually blind and deaf.

These men were the conscience of Israel, both calling out idolatry and injustice. They were speakers of truth. They spoke with a clarity and conviction that many of the other religious leaders of their day lacked.

Living as they did separate from the normal flow of life in their society, they were often subject to resistance and rejection. We witnessed this in the reading from the Prophet Amos from last Sunday. He was told to go away and leave the royal shrine at Bethel. His response was simple – he knew that he had been called and that he had to faithful to that call. 

The Prophet Jeremiah attests in his writings to the struggles he encountered as his message was rejected. Jeremiah reminds us that, while this was their lot, it was also personally very painful. The prophets met hostility because their message was not palatable. They were often, as John the Baptist, a voice crying in the wilderness. A voice that went unheeded.

The prophet knew he was called to a very particular vocation. He was to be God’s mouthpiece. The Prophets of Israel were remarkable men, spiritual men, holy men. They played a vital role in guiding and directing the people back to fidelity to God.

Prophets, acutely conscious of the holiness of God and at the same time very aware of God’s judgement on the sins of the people, were men who embraced the ministry of intercession. Their hearts were not only given to God, but they carried the burden of the failure of the people to be faithful to God. One could imagine the prophet, during times of silent prayer, begging for God’s mercy. The Book of Kings (I Kings 18:36), for instance, records Elijah appealed to God for the people that through his actions the people may believe and return to worship of the true God.

On this feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Church gives us the Prophet Elijah, not only because of his connection with Mount Carmel, but also because it is true that those called to contemplative life in the Church today continue in the tradition of the prophets.

It is not surprising that the Carmelite order is named after the mountain where the Prophet Elijah dwelt. The Carmelite order has its historical roots on Mount Carmel and the contemplatives that dwelt there aligning their life with that of the great prophet.

One can say simply that the Carmelite monastery, like this one, stands firmly within the prophetic tradition. And so the traits of the prophets are meant to be lived within the community. And here in Launceston, they are.

As we celebrate this feast we turn to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and ask for her continuing intercession for this community, that it may remain faithful to its identity, in line with the prophetic tradition of Israel.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Monday, 15 July 2024