I suspect there are few visitors to this site who have not watched someone they love about to make a big mistake. It might be a son or a daughter. It could be a close friend at work or someone from your religious community or parish.

We “know” they are on the wrong path!

Welcome to the world of the Prophets!

The World of the Prophets

The original Hebrew word for a prophet meant simply: one who sees.

Prophets, in one way or another have seen where God is leading humanity. They have seen and drawn close to the heart of God and they know God is leading us somewhere good.

Prophets become so taken up with that final vision that they become passionately sad and angry about what is actually happening in the supposedly “real world.” Once they experience the universal being of God, the present becomes so dissatisfying and disappointing. They wonder how people can be satisfied with so little and content with such tawdry lives.

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It is also true that at other times they offer comfort and remind us where God is heading.

The world of Jesus

Over the years, it dawned on me what attracted those who left everything to follow Jesus. 

As they listened to him, they began to be caught up in the imagination of what could be. They began to catch a glimpse of where God was taking them.

Not only their lives but all lives would be transformed.

In the Sermon on the Mount, they got a glimpse of a world they had not imagined; a world turned upside down.

 It was a world envisioned by Our Father. A world where there would be no divisions by class or anything else. Each would see in the other a sister or a brother. This would be the sign of being true disciples.

Jesus invited them to “see ” beyond the facts and enter into the dream of the Creator. He invited them to see the world through God’s eyes.

Jesus invited others to change their way of thinking.

Jesus called for a transformation of lives. But he also showed them what that transformation would involve. 

On the night before he died, he summed up this transformation. “Do this in memory of me.“ Wash one another’s feet. The next day he gave the unthinkable example of forgiving even those who were putting him to death on a cross.

What could be more powerful than seeing him lay down his life for what we would consider the least and most unworthy? In this, we can “see” that God has truly first loved each one of us.

Practical Prophets

Standing in that tradition, Vincent and  Louise saw a world that their contemporaries never saw.

Faced with misery, many would say, “That’s just the way it is”.

But Vincent and Louise knew that there was something wrong with what they saw when viewed against the vision and mission of Jesus bringing Good News to the Poor.

They asked themselves if there was a better way of bringing good news to those who were suffering. They dared to imagine practical ways of showing us where God was leading us . They imagined a different world, a world where sisters and brothers would care for each other, especially for the weak and the wounded. All would wash one another’s feet.

Vincent and Louise imagined what it would look like to take Jesus’ prayer, Our Father, seriously. In their quiet ways, they did the practical things that were necessary. They were “practical prophets” who helped others to”see” where God was leading us.

Vincent and Louise triggered each to ask, “what must I do?” for my sister and brother in need.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a “practical prophet?”

Click below for an early audio version of this VIncentian Mindwalk.