The First Reading and Gospel for today both speak of the trials of someone called to be a prophet by God. Jeremiah is told: "They will fight against you ..." (Jer 1: 19) and once the congregation at Nazareth heard of Jesus' message: "... all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove Jesus out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off he cliff." (Lk 4: 28-29) Why would anyone choose to endure such hatred, rejection and violence as Jeremiah and Jesus did? Likewise, what brings contemporary Catholics and other Christians to stand up for the faith in the face of public ridicule and worse? In the end, it must be love. Love for God and love for all people especially those who are yet to accept the Lord and the grace he has to offer. Prophetic messages only have impact inasmuch as they are motivated by and oriented towards love. Saint Paul tells the Corinthians: "If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." (1 Cor 13: 2) In our own faith lives this necessity of being impelled and guided by love in all we do must always be in the back of our minds. If we are acting solely on the basis of duty or public/social recognition, regardless of how successful we might be, I risk acting fruitlessly: "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor 13: 3)
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