Contemporary Prophets Speak The Truth
Sermon
Sermons on the First Readings
Series III, Cycle B
Object:
Dorothy Day, a woman who many people today believe to be a prototypical saint for twentieth-century society, was born on November 8, 1897, in Brooklyn, the eldest daughter of John Day, a roving newspaper sportswriter and his wife, Grace. Because of the nature of her father's work, the Day family moved often during Dorothy's youth. In 1906, the Days were living in Berkeley, California, when the great earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed a large portion of the city of San Francisco across the bay. The disaster destroyed the plant of the Morning Telegraph, necessitating John Day and his family to move again. They settled in Chicago where John rented a drab six-room flat above a tavern on the south side. When he obtained a permanent position with the Chicago Inter-Ocean, his family moved to a nicer home just north of the city.
Like all people, Dorothy Day experienced life with its ecstasies and its problems. Each experience was an opportunity, a challenge, and at times a pitfall. Each experience asked her to make a choice. She could learn, grow through, and move forward from the many experiences of life or she could allow society to conquer her, to retreat inside herself, and shut out the world. In many ways she was a contemporary prophet who spoke God's word by revealing the reality of contemporary life. She forced people to see things in different ways.
At age seventeen, Dorothy enrolled at the University of Illinois on a scholarship from the Hearst newspaper chain. There she attended classes that, for the most part, she found boring, save English, which peeked in her a previous interest in writing. She read voraciously, cutting classes and keeping odd hours in order to satisfy her habit. She was introduced to the ideology of Socialism, which she found to be quite attractive. Each experience of life was an opportunity to grow. She developed a worldview that was socially conscious, outward looking, and open to possibilities.
After two years of college, she returned to New York where she worked as a reporter, first for Socialist and later for Communist newspapers. Life was not easy for Dorothy Day. She lived a "Bohemian" lifestyle, occupying a small flat on Manhattan's upper eastside. She shared her food with the rats that darted through the dingy apartment and with the homeless who slept outside her front door. She barely managed to pay her bills; she was searching and running but never certain as to what the goal was or where it was located. A passing affair ended in an abortion. Another romance led to marriage and to a divorce only one year later. A common-law marriage produced a daughter. She moved about -- to Hollywood, Mexico, New Orleans, then back to New York -- writing stories, columns, and even a semi-autobiographical novel, The Eleventh Virgin.
Floating, drifting, but always questioning and growing, Dorothy came to Washington DC on December 8, 1932, to cover a story for the Catholic weekly, America. After her assignment was completed, she went to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to pray. As a recent convert to Catholicism, she asked God for direction in her life. She wanted to know the goal and the method to achieve it. It would not be long before God would answer her plea.
When she returned to New York, her friends told her that a middle-aged man had been asking for her in her absence. George Shuster, managing editor of The Commonweal, another Catholic weekly published in New York, had sent this man, Peter Maurin, a French émigré to the United States, via Canada, to her front door. Maurin had a new vision for the world, one which he claimed would be its salvation. His plan had three parts: The first was to engage the mind through round-table discussions on the important social issues of the day, led by some recognized expert in the field. The second part was to establish houses of hospitality to shelter and feed the homeless. Lastly, in support of the back-to-the-land movement, he advocated the foundation of farming communes for work and study. Thus in December 1932, an articulate women searching for answers, Dorothy Day, met a man with a vision and plan, Peter Maurin. The result of their relationship was the Catholic Worker movement, which published its first one-penny newspaper on May 1, 1933. It stands as a primary example of the lay apostolate and Catholic Action prominent in the United States of the 1930s.
Dorothy Day is only one example of a plethora of famous twentieth-century people who have been shining examples of contemporary prophets. She, along with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, and the combination of Nelson Mandela and F. W. DeKlerk in South Africa, proclaimed a message that was painful for some but uplifting for others. She forced people to squirm, to rethink their lives, both in word and action. She asked uncomfortable questions. Through her actions not only were the poor made visible and better served, but the conscience of society was raised. People were forced to confront their fears, to listen to their conscience. In short, she, like Moses and the great prophets of the Hebrew Bible, challenged people to listen and find the presence of God in a new message.
In a way similar to the life and work of Dorothy Day, Moses, as we heard in our lesson from Deuteronomy, speaks to the people and tells them of the absolute need to listen to the prophets of God. Moses says God will raise up other prophets after him, a message that was certainly a foreshadowing of the many whose names we know. God will place his words in their mouths and they shall speak all they are commanded. God, through Moses, warns the people that they must listen to the message of the prophets. Anyone who does not heed the message will be held accountable to the Lord.
Moses also warns those called to be prophets that they must speak only what God tells them. People are not to presume to speak in God's name. To misrepresent God's message would be blasphemy. Thus, Moses tells the people that one can tell the validity of a prophet by seeing if his words come true. If a prophet's words are not manifest then it is not the Lord who speaks, but rather the man who speaks presumptuously. The people are not to be frightened; God is ever present in the message of the prophets.
When contemplating the concept of prophecy, most people think of future prediction. Certainly Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all the other prophets spoke in this way. Amos and Hosea predicted the destruction of the northern kingdom; Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted the Babylonian exile. However, the primary reason for prophecy was to proclaim God's disappointment at current conditions as manifest through sinful actions, complacency, and inappropriate attitudes of the ruling elite toward the people of the land.
Today, prophets speak in a similar way, articulating contemporary problems and forcing people to ask difficult questions. While in some ways the words of contemporary prophets look to the future, their concern is with the present reality. Dorothy Day spoke as an advocate for the poor and marginalized during the Great Depression. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the injustices against African Americans, thus initiating a peaceful revolution during the American Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and 1960s. Archbishop Romero spoke for the poor who were being oppressed by a state bent on power and with little or no concern toward its citizens. Nelson Mandela and F. W. DeKlerk spoke against the injustices of apartheid, a system that not only segregated peoples, but placed one group above another.
Contemporary prophets exist today and they challenge us in many ways. They ask difficult questions, but ones that require our response. When the prophets speak we are generally made to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes we respond by ignoring the message. People don't like to feel uncomfortable and thus it is easy to close our ears and eyes to the message that prophets speak today. But God tells us through the prophet Moses in today's lesson from Deuteronomy that he will hold us accountable if we fail to heed the message of the prophets.
Prophets are not always the famous and those who make our history books. Many people, both famous and ordinary, speak God's truth. Part of the vocation to holiness to which all Christians are called is to listen to the truth and to speak it on behalf of God to a world that is often lost. We may wish to avoid this task, but as Jonah was tracked down by the Lord to continue his work, so too will God continue to seek us to meet our responsibilities as contemporary prophets.
Confrontation, speaking the truth, being courageous -- these are not easy things to do. We all want to be accepted and speaking the truth can, at times, put us at odds with others. But we have a mandate as followers of Jesus to speak and act when things need correction. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13, tells us that we may have all things, but if we do not possess love we are empty. He concludes, "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love" (v. 13). There are several forms of love. The Greeks have given us three: Eros or romantic love between a man and a woman, phileo or brotherly love between siblings, relatives, and close friends, and agape, the love of service. There is, however, a fourth form -- tough love. This means mustering sufficient courage to say what must be said and to do what must be done, despite the difficulty or possible pain.
We must be people who love by speaking the truth and we must do so in all the aspects of our lives. We must speak the truth with our families. When a member of our family strays off the right path we must have the courage to speak and to act to correct the situation. It may be a child who is associating with the wrong crowd, a spouse who has lost direction, or a parent who has mistreated a child. We must speak the truth in our place of business. Today, corruption is almost endemic to the corporate structure. Work practices, decision-making, and the treatment of employees are all areas where errors can easily be manifest. When we notice problems in these areas or others do we have the strength and courage to act? We must speak the truth in our society. Oppression, racism, and injustice are observed and experienced throughout the world. When we notice these wrongs do we sneak off, say nothing, or take the easy way out? Can we, on the other hand, muster sufficient courage, strength, and trust, as did Moses, to say the tough word, make the bold move, and take a personal risk, knowing our efforts might not be appreciated?
We must be like Moses, Jesus, and today's prophets and speak the truth. It will not be easy, but then Jesus never said that a Christian life well led would be a bed of roses. G. K. Chesterton, the famous British writer, commented in his 1910 book, What's Wrong with the World, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried." Let us not be misled. If we live our vocation to holiness well, it will ultimately lead to the cross. But, in the great Christian paradox, it is only through the cross that we will find life. Let us, therefore, be inspired to act and to speak boldly to correct the problems, wrongs, and injustices that we observe. Let us be encouraged and strengthened by Jesus' words, "Know the truth and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). Amen.
Like all people, Dorothy Day experienced life with its ecstasies and its problems. Each experience was an opportunity, a challenge, and at times a pitfall. Each experience asked her to make a choice. She could learn, grow through, and move forward from the many experiences of life or she could allow society to conquer her, to retreat inside herself, and shut out the world. In many ways she was a contemporary prophet who spoke God's word by revealing the reality of contemporary life. She forced people to see things in different ways.
At age seventeen, Dorothy enrolled at the University of Illinois on a scholarship from the Hearst newspaper chain. There she attended classes that, for the most part, she found boring, save English, which peeked in her a previous interest in writing. She read voraciously, cutting classes and keeping odd hours in order to satisfy her habit. She was introduced to the ideology of Socialism, which she found to be quite attractive. Each experience of life was an opportunity to grow. She developed a worldview that was socially conscious, outward looking, and open to possibilities.
After two years of college, she returned to New York where she worked as a reporter, first for Socialist and later for Communist newspapers. Life was not easy for Dorothy Day. She lived a "Bohemian" lifestyle, occupying a small flat on Manhattan's upper eastside. She shared her food with the rats that darted through the dingy apartment and with the homeless who slept outside her front door. She barely managed to pay her bills; she was searching and running but never certain as to what the goal was or where it was located. A passing affair ended in an abortion. Another romance led to marriage and to a divorce only one year later. A common-law marriage produced a daughter. She moved about -- to Hollywood, Mexico, New Orleans, then back to New York -- writing stories, columns, and even a semi-autobiographical novel, The Eleventh Virgin.
Floating, drifting, but always questioning and growing, Dorothy came to Washington DC on December 8, 1932, to cover a story for the Catholic weekly, America. After her assignment was completed, she went to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to pray. As a recent convert to Catholicism, she asked God for direction in her life. She wanted to know the goal and the method to achieve it. It would not be long before God would answer her plea.
When she returned to New York, her friends told her that a middle-aged man had been asking for her in her absence. George Shuster, managing editor of The Commonweal, another Catholic weekly published in New York, had sent this man, Peter Maurin, a French émigré to the United States, via Canada, to her front door. Maurin had a new vision for the world, one which he claimed would be its salvation. His plan had three parts: The first was to engage the mind through round-table discussions on the important social issues of the day, led by some recognized expert in the field. The second part was to establish houses of hospitality to shelter and feed the homeless. Lastly, in support of the back-to-the-land movement, he advocated the foundation of farming communes for work and study. Thus in December 1932, an articulate women searching for answers, Dorothy Day, met a man with a vision and plan, Peter Maurin. The result of their relationship was the Catholic Worker movement, which published its first one-penny newspaper on May 1, 1933. It stands as a primary example of the lay apostolate and Catholic Action prominent in the United States of the 1930s.
Dorothy Day is only one example of a plethora of famous twentieth-century people who have been shining examples of contemporary prophets. She, along with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, and the combination of Nelson Mandela and F. W. DeKlerk in South Africa, proclaimed a message that was painful for some but uplifting for others. She forced people to squirm, to rethink their lives, both in word and action. She asked uncomfortable questions. Through her actions not only were the poor made visible and better served, but the conscience of society was raised. People were forced to confront their fears, to listen to their conscience. In short, she, like Moses and the great prophets of the Hebrew Bible, challenged people to listen and find the presence of God in a new message.
In a way similar to the life and work of Dorothy Day, Moses, as we heard in our lesson from Deuteronomy, speaks to the people and tells them of the absolute need to listen to the prophets of God. Moses says God will raise up other prophets after him, a message that was certainly a foreshadowing of the many whose names we know. God will place his words in their mouths and they shall speak all they are commanded. God, through Moses, warns the people that they must listen to the message of the prophets. Anyone who does not heed the message will be held accountable to the Lord.
Moses also warns those called to be prophets that they must speak only what God tells them. People are not to presume to speak in God's name. To misrepresent God's message would be blasphemy. Thus, Moses tells the people that one can tell the validity of a prophet by seeing if his words come true. If a prophet's words are not manifest then it is not the Lord who speaks, but rather the man who speaks presumptuously. The people are not to be frightened; God is ever present in the message of the prophets.
When contemplating the concept of prophecy, most people think of future prediction. Certainly Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all the other prophets spoke in this way. Amos and Hosea predicted the destruction of the northern kingdom; Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted the Babylonian exile. However, the primary reason for prophecy was to proclaim God's disappointment at current conditions as manifest through sinful actions, complacency, and inappropriate attitudes of the ruling elite toward the people of the land.
Today, prophets speak in a similar way, articulating contemporary problems and forcing people to ask difficult questions. While in some ways the words of contemporary prophets look to the future, their concern is with the present reality. Dorothy Day spoke as an advocate for the poor and marginalized during the Great Depression. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the injustices against African Americans, thus initiating a peaceful revolution during the American Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and 1960s. Archbishop Romero spoke for the poor who were being oppressed by a state bent on power and with little or no concern toward its citizens. Nelson Mandela and F. W. DeKlerk spoke against the injustices of apartheid, a system that not only segregated peoples, but placed one group above another.
Contemporary prophets exist today and they challenge us in many ways. They ask difficult questions, but ones that require our response. When the prophets speak we are generally made to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes we respond by ignoring the message. People don't like to feel uncomfortable and thus it is easy to close our ears and eyes to the message that prophets speak today. But God tells us through the prophet Moses in today's lesson from Deuteronomy that he will hold us accountable if we fail to heed the message of the prophets.
Prophets are not always the famous and those who make our history books. Many people, both famous and ordinary, speak God's truth. Part of the vocation to holiness to which all Christians are called is to listen to the truth and to speak it on behalf of God to a world that is often lost. We may wish to avoid this task, but as Jonah was tracked down by the Lord to continue his work, so too will God continue to seek us to meet our responsibilities as contemporary prophets.
Confrontation, speaking the truth, being courageous -- these are not easy things to do. We all want to be accepted and speaking the truth can, at times, put us at odds with others. But we have a mandate as followers of Jesus to speak and act when things need correction. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13, tells us that we may have all things, but if we do not possess love we are empty. He concludes, "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love" (v. 13). There are several forms of love. The Greeks have given us three: Eros or romantic love between a man and a woman, phileo or brotherly love between siblings, relatives, and close friends, and agape, the love of service. There is, however, a fourth form -- tough love. This means mustering sufficient courage to say what must be said and to do what must be done, despite the difficulty or possible pain.
We must be people who love by speaking the truth and we must do so in all the aspects of our lives. We must speak the truth with our families. When a member of our family strays off the right path we must have the courage to speak and to act to correct the situation. It may be a child who is associating with the wrong crowd, a spouse who has lost direction, or a parent who has mistreated a child. We must speak the truth in our place of business. Today, corruption is almost endemic to the corporate structure. Work practices, decision-making, and the treatment of employees are all areas where errors can easily be manifest. When we notice problems in these areas or others do we have the strength and courage to act? We must speak the truth in our society. Oppression, racism, and injustice are observed and experienced throughout the world. When we notice these wrongs do we sneak off, say nothing, or take the easy way out? Can we, on the other hand, muster sufficient courage, strength, and trust, as did Moses, to say the tough word, make the bold move, and take a personal risk, knowing our efforts might not be appreciated?
We must be like Moses, Jesus, and today's prophets and speak the truth. It will not be easy, but then Jesus never said that a Christian life well led would be a bed of roses. G. K. Chesterton, the famous British writer, commented in his 1910 book, What's Wrong with the World, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried." Let us not be misled. If we live our vocation to holiness well, it will ultimately lead to the cross. But, in the great Christian paradox, it is only through the cross that we will find life. Let us, therefore, be inspired to act and to speak boldly to correct the problems, wrongs, and injustices that we observe. Let us be encouraged and strengthened by Jesus' words, "Know the truth and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). Amen.
