Vatican II said that we are not only “everyday mystics” who can discern God’s presence and intentions, but we also share in Christ’s prophetic office. This means that we are “everyday prophets,” spiritually called, empowered and responsible to do what God wants us to do.
To be an “everyday prophet” means to “speak for,” to proclaim God, not just in words, but in the actions and activities of our everyday lives. We begin by discerning our own gifts, talents, possibilities and opportunities, and then “reading the signs of the times.” We look at today’s society and culture, at our families, schools and education, politics, business and economics, science, art, and see how God wants us to elevate them by making them more luminously human in the grace of Christ. As St. Iraneus said in the second century, “The glory of God is people fully alive!”
To be spiritual, to be holy, does not mean to disregard the world and become other-worldly, but to get deeply involved in the world. Our supreme model of prophetic spirituality and holiness is Jesus, who was deeply involved in his own society and culture, being the “leaven” to spiritually elevate the everyday world in his creative, healing, world-transforming and saving grace.
A note of caution: we must be sure that we discern and act within the living faith of our Catholic community. We are all painfully aware of individuals and cults who act harmfully on their own.
The teacher I wrote about in my previous column prophetically elevated her students by giving them the best possible education she could. For example, she elevated their imaginations by presenting them with a brightly colorful, welcoming classroom, and by telling them stories that stirred them with awe and wonder. For science, they took little field trips to experience the wonders of nature. She elevated their minds through all the subjects she taught. And she elevated their souls by respecting and nurturing their sense of community, personal individuality, dignity, integrity, and transcendent life purpose.
She also elevated them by fulfilling the spiritual dynamics that she knew God had endowed them with—without imposing her religion on anyone. For example, she established a sense of order, justice and peace in her classroom. She taught the children to respect one another’s rights. Mindful of the Beatitudes, she taught them that peace is not the mere absence of conflict but the positive reaching out to help one another whenever they could. She moved them to console one another in times of trouble, e.g., at recess, after an illness, or on the loss of a pet. By word and example, she taught them the joy of honesty, goodness, modesty, simplicity and openness of spirit.
She gave them age appropriate freedom to express themselves creatively, to find the ever emerging truth in their work, and even to make creative mistakes. She corrected them in a way that taught them forgiveness and develop a positive attitude toward their studies. She set aside time for cooperative discussions and even for some thoughtful silence. She saw to it that the children grew in their sense of belonging, security, trust and obedience, so they could grow in the joy of life, and in confidence, perseverance and hope.
She fostered a healthy sense of gratitude in her pupils for the gift of life, for their parents and families, for their friends, for nature, for their teachers and for education. She also elevated education itself, e.g., by continuing her own education, and organizing “Quality Control” meetings in which the faculty discussed their progress and coordinated their subjects.
In all that she did educationally, she left her children free to follow the religion, or non-religion, of their parents. Many of her students, now married and parents, still contact her.
What the teacher prophetically did in her classroom, individuals, families, secretaries, plumbers, electricians, business people, doctors and nurses, contractors, artists, et al., are spiritually called, empowered and responsible to do. All can discern God’s presence and intentions in their own areas of life, and all have the grace to spiritually elevate those areas. As Jesuit Daniel Berrigan prays, “Dear God, send us mystics with hands!” As we move prophetically into today’s society and culture, we will find Christ there waiting for us.
Anthony T. Massimini of Woolwich holds a doctorate in spiritual theology. He can be reached at massimini7@gmail.com
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