Pope Francis recalled that with Baptism each Christian receives “the gift and mission of prophecy”, and therefore is called to be “a reflection of the light of Christ on the path of the brothers.”
Before the nearly 15,000 faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, the Pontiff reflected on today’s Gospel, in which Jesus says: “Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet’s reward.”
“But who is the prophet?” asked the Pope. The Holy Father pointed out that he is not “some kind of magician who predicts the future”, nor “a character from the past” who existed to foretell the arrival of Jesus.
“Prophet, brothers and sisters, is each one of us”, and that, “by virtue of Baptism, helps others to read the present under the action of the Holy Spirit” to understand God’s projects and respond to them, he explained.
In this sense, Pope Francis affirmed that “the prophet is the one who shows Jesus to others”, bears witness and helps build tomorrow according to his plans. “Therefore, we are all prophets, witnesses of Jesus,” he pointed out.
For this reason, he invited the faithful to ask themselves: “I, who was ‘chosen prophet’ at Baptism, do I speak and, above all, do I live as a witness of Jesus? Do I bring a little of your light to someone’s life? I wonder about this? I wonder how my testimony is going, how my prophecy is going?
Later, the Pontiff recalled that in the Gospel Christ asks to welcome the prophets, therefore, he indicated that it is important to welcome “one another as such, as bearers of a message from God, each according to his state and vocation”. in families, parishes and all areas of the Church and society.
“The Spirit has distributed gifts of prophecy in the Holy People of God: here is why it is good to listen to everyone. For example, when an important decision has to be made, it is good above all to pray, invoke the Spirit, but then listen and dialogue, in the confidence that each one, even the smallest, has something important to say, a prophetic gift that share,” he said.
Pope Francis explained that “this is how the truth is sought and a climate of listening to God and brothers is spread, in which people do not feel welcomed only if they say what I like, but rather they feel accepted and valued as gifts for what they are”.
“Let us think of how many conflicts could be avoided and resolved in this way, listening to others with the sincere desire to understand each other! Let us ask ourselves then: do I know how to welcome brothers and sisters as prophetic gifts? I think I need them? Do I listen to them with respect, with the desire to learn? Because each one of us needs to learn from the others, each one of us needs to learn from the others”, assured the Pontiff.