Does God still speak to us? Is the prophetic ministry a thing of the past? Are we left to ourselves? No, in every time and age, God raises prophets, shep- herds, saints, priests, mothers and fathers to speak his message. However, it is often uncomfortable to listen to the prophets whom God sends, be- cause often their messages challenge us to heed the harsh realities that we try to run away from.

Pope Francis is a “Climate prophet”, he is challenging us to re-think about how we treat the only home that we have – our planet Earth. He has been making numerous pleas to protect water, rainforests and animals. We may think that this is not relevant to us. But it is one of the most important call- ings that we have received; to care for our common home. We are only stewards of this planet, we share the resources with all forms of life, not just human.

When we are faced with challenging prophetic words, how do we respond? Are we like the people that Ezekiel describes, hard and obstinate of heart and will not want to go through inconvenience to do God’s will? Or are we like the people in today’s Gospel proclamation, trying to find fault with the prophet? We know who this person is, his/her background, so we will not listen to him/her? Where is our faith? We say with our lips, that we want to obey God, but when the message is too difficult to carry out, we find fault with the preacher.
Caring for the poor, the marginalized, and oppressed are not options, these are our duties. The Lord wants us to take care of our brothers and sisters in whatever the simple ways that we can. Perhaps by sharing a packet of biscuits with a neighbor, making a phone call to an elderly family member who might be living alone.

Many of us have been privileged to receive blessings from God, but let us not become proud. If we do, then God will gently remind us that all glory belongs to him, we are only doing our duty when we help or minister to oth- ers. We are not inadequate, the Lord has filled us with the Holy Spirit and empowered us to carry out his mission in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. God’s grace is always sufficient for us, he does not push us into despair. If he calls us, he also equips us to do his task. When we feel weak, that is when we can start relying more on God’s power. This is why St. Paul gladly said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Prayer: Abba Father, help me to take care of your creation, and empower me when I feel weak. Amen.