Being a prophet: The daily task to pick up the cross

God has spoken to His people throughout the centuries through His prophets. The prophets continued to remind the people of their Covenant with God, of His commandments and brought to them the message of salvation in the Messiah who was yet to come.

When Christ, the Messiah came He established a New Covenant of love and challenged His disciples then and now to go daily and share this message. As Christians we are to be Prophets for Christ each day in giving, sharing and showing love. We like to think that the message of Jesus was peace, joy, healing, forgiving and love, but now as He makes His way to Jerusalem and Calvary it is a more sobering message.

The daily task to pick up the cross of pain, sin, doubts and sufferings that leads to redemption is difficult. In today's world we need to daily pray for the courage in thought, word and deed to be prophets of the New Covenant of Love. This love is not always one of peace and joy but maybe one of pain, question and suffering.

Pain and suffering come to everyone and thus the negative attitude of our readings this weekend. M. Scott Peck, the author of “The Road Less Traveled.” begins by saying, “life is difficult.” The challenge to accept that statement — and live it — makes life not so difficult. It is more difficult for those who think it shouldn't be so.

A good friend was doing a good deed and fell in a hole on the road and said, “See no good deed goes unpunished.” I think at times we all feel that way, that life is not fair, and it is not easy being a prophet for Jesus. Many of us think that if we do what God wants, God should do what we want! Well, sometimes He does and sometimes He doesn't, at least not right away. It is our attitude that matters.

We can be like Jeremiah in the first reading and feel we are sinking in the mud at the bottom of the well and all is dark and hopeless. Trust and patience with God and His will as we pray in the Lord's Prayer is all important for the prophet of today. It is our challenge to daily run the race of life with great faith, hope and love. This race may sometimes be on a nice, flat road or it can be full of hills, like Gallows Lane.

Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but still we set an alarm or two to wake up. This is faith, hope and love in action.

An older woman wore a shirt that had written on it: “I am not 80 years old; I am sweet l6 with 64 years of life's experience.” This is the attitude of and for a prophet of Jesus Christ today! This means that we quietly, with faith, pick up our personal cross and run the race even when life is difficult for it is difficult.