Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

My sister Becki,
born on 10/31

He said to me, “Take and swallow it.

It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.

In his book, The Prophets, the mid-20^th century rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschl makes a distinction between the experience of the Hebrew prophets and that of mystics. All religious traditions have mystical traditions and those who claim mystical experience.

They, in their turn, insist that mystical experience is a very normal human experience.

If it seems unusual that is only because our tainted cultures cannot imagine the height and depth and breadth of human potential. 

Just as, a half century ago, women warriors seemed like nothing more than a Greek myth and today make up 15% of America’s armed forces, so we could welcome mystical knowledge if only we would allow it to happen. Even 1950’s America supposed some people might have mystical experience though it seemed bizarre at the time. 

But the Hebrew prophets’ experience is something else altogether. For one thing, it’s no fun! All of the prophets of the Old Testament describe their reluctance to be God’s spokesmen. Jeremiah especially complained of the isolation that fell upon him because he spoke the truth to his contemporaries. His book records some of the shabby treatment he suffered, including being ignored, imprisoned and abandoned in a dank well. Non-biblical tradition says he was sawn in half after he was kidnapped and taken to Egypt. This is not a vocation most people would choose. The Seer of Patmos also suffered through his visions, as we hear in today’s passage, although his pain is relatively mild.

The point is, those who speak prophetically can expect only contempt and misery for their reward. The Church habitually and rightly regards prophets with suspicion. Those who claim the title are usually insane or dangerous. They bring disruption and distress to their communities and their answers are not reasonable solutions to anything.

John Brown, who is given some credit for triggering the American Civil War, was hanged. But his vision, we’d have to admit, came from God. The age of slavery was ending – he saw that clearly -- but only a civil war could draw the curtain on that tragedy.

Today’s religious community might not include Mr. Brown in the canon of Christian prophets. He was pious in the manner of a mad man, and his murder of citizens certainly annuls any claims to sainthood. But his soul is marching on.

Nor would Rabbi Heschl include Mr. Brown. He believed the age of prophets ended with Malachi. Christians saw it reopened with John the Baptist and Mary, and ending once again with the death of John of Patmos. However, we also believe the spirit of prophecy abides in our Church. This is why we anoint our newly baptized as “priest, prophet and king.”  

But it’s still not fun. When the Church condemns abortion, capital punishment, drug abuse and suicide as immoral we don’t expect the world to stand up and say “Amen!” When the Church reminds the nations they have an obligation to care for the poor, the sick and dying, refugees and aliens, the orphaned, the imprisoned and the despised we don’t expect encouragement from the powerful, the affluent and the comfortable. When even secular journalists report:

The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of (Gross National) income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976. 

the best we can expect is condescension: “Wonderful sermon, Father!”

The Word may taste sweet in the mouth but as we digest its full meaning we will inevitably feel sick in the stomach. And then we’ll take up the cross of Christ and follow in his steps.