Prophets In Our Midst!
Sloughing Towards Galilee: Prophets in Our Midst!
St. John Bosco
Mark 6:1-6
Mark 6:1-6
"1. Leaving that district, he went to his home town, and his disciples accompanied him.
2. With the coming of the Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, 'Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him?
3. This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?' And they would not accept him.
4. And Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is despised only in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house';
5. and he could work no miracle there, except that he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
6. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He made a tour round the villages, teaching."
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????Even in the little village of Nazareth, long before digital over load, folks had to decide how to engage the wisdom and miraculous acts of One among them. Awe and wonder battled with envy and offense--and in today's Gospel at least for some God -among-them was dismissed as unworthy and irrelevant.
??? In today's world of information overload, where everyone says whatever they want to say on social media how can we know what messages sorting system. But I point to a few people who have been prophets for me.
??? I grew up listening to "Mister Rogers", never missed a show, and his words and actions have radiated through me:
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people to who are helping" "Mister Rogers".
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"Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like "struggle". To? love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he is")Mister Rogers".)
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These were words I heard, read, and my parents had me chew on, until they became reality in my life. This was the heart of the Gospel message over and beyond all else in the "Word of God!"
??? During my sophomore year in college, at the end of a retreat, Fr. Dan Berrigan, asked all of us: "If you are afraid when you have nothing to lose, when will you stand up to your fears?
??? Thirty one years ago I heard Des Moines. Iowa Catholic Worker, Frank Cardaro,? give a presentation on being a Catholic Worker, pushing me to embrace my inward call, and so the next year I came to San Francisco. His life is a demonstration of the living Christ.
??? And in the last six or so years as I have struggled with the over-whelming sense of the anger, and hatred on the internet, the desire to simply turn tail and run away, the young fifteen year old saint, Carlo Acutis reminds me:
领英推荐
"Life is a gift, because as long as we are on the planet, we can grow in our ability to love. The more we learn to love, the more we will enjoy eternal blessedness with God" (Carlo Acutis).
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??? With their lives and ministries these four have shown me the answer.
These ordinary prophets are pillars of my spiritual, moral, and professional life. Their lives--and their few words--point me to God, to my friends on the street, whom we separate ourselves from, so often, rather than seeing them simply as human beings. I help them, and I find they help me more than anyone else! These four saints, along with my friends on the street point me to the Divine within myself. I have found in the words of Terry Pratachett: "The meaning of life is to find your gift. To find your gift is happiness."
???? Whenever I stray from my role as prophet they call me back! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
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Fr. C. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.
P.O. Box 642656
San Francisco, CA 94164
415-305-2124
snap/chat: riodamien2
Mission in Life! (Revised January 1, 2024):
The best summary for my mission in life is found in the statement that:
"Obedience to Christ does not consist in
engaging in propaganda, nor in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery. It means to live in such away that's one's life would not make sense if God did not exist."
Being a 'living mystery' means to love 'to the point of folly, and in the words of Kawaga:
"I am a free lance tramp, a vagabond for Christ. I must go until Christ's work is done. I go like the wind."
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