VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 173   
   DATE 06-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - It is not easy to be a prophet, says Cardinal Alencherry to the Synod   
      
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    It is not easy to be a prophet, says Cardinal Alencherry to the Synod   
    Vatican City, 6 October 2015 (VIS) - This morning at 9 a.m., with the   
   recitation of the Terce prayer, the third Congregation of the General Ordinary   
   Assembly on the Family opened in the Synod Hall.   
    His Beatitude Cardinal George Alencherry, major archbishop of   
   Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, India, and president of the Synod of   
   the Syro-Malabar Church, pronounced a homily in which he underlined, in the   
   light of the Bible readings, the prophetic mission of the Church in our times.   
    "The reading from Jeremiah gives us a message very much applicable to the goal   
   of our Synodal deliberations on family", he began. "Prophet Jeremiah uttered a   
   few oracles to the royal family of Judah cautioning the King against the ruin   
   that may fall upon the Kingdom, if the King does not render Justice and   
   righteousness and save the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor. Josiah and   
   Jehoiakim were the kings of Judah, at that time. We know that both of them were   
   weak kings, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, destroyed the Kingdom of   
   Judah and the temple. Owing to the failures of the kings the people were driven   
   to exile and all the sufferings that arose from it. Josiah and Nebuchadnezzar,   
   the kings of Judah, could not render justice and righteousness and save the   
   oppressed from the hand of the oppressor. Justice means the acceptance of the   
   reign of God and righteousness is the grace of God resulting from the   
   acceptance   
   of God's reign. The kings of Judah failed in their responsibility to give   
   justice and righteousness to the people, and accordingly the people had to   
   suffer the consequences".   
    "The words of the prophet are applicable to rulers and leaders of all the   
   times   
   and also to the people governed by them. In many countries of the world people   
   are denied justice and righteousness as a result of the promotion of   
   individualism, hedonism and oppression by secularist values and lines of   
   action.   
   The question arises as to whether the leaders of the Church have come forward   
   with a prophetic role like that of Jeremiah to support the people with the Word   
   of God and by personal witness".   
    "Jeremiah had to suffer the cost of his prophetic role", the Cardinal   
   observed.   
   "His life was a symbol of the message he gave. Suffering and ruin he had to   
   take   
   upon himself. He was asked to accept three signs in his life: not to marry, not   
   to attend funerals and not to attend parties".   
    "'Do not take a wife': Jeremiah is not to experience the deep love of a bride,   
   for the bride, Israel, has rejected Yahweh's love. He must experience   
   loneliness, as Yahweh experiences loneliness. In Christian times, celibacy   
   becomes a sign".   
    "'Do not go into a house where there is mourning': Jeremiah is not to mourn or   
   show compassion to the dead, because Yahweh has lost all feelings for his   
   people. They will die unlamented".   
    "'Do not go into a house where there is a celebration': Jeremiah is not to   
   join   
   any celebration, because there is nothing to celebrate. Jeremiah is called to   
   lead a terrible life, and no wonder he goes into deep depression and bitter   
   lament. It is not easy to be a prophet".   
    "The pastors of the Church in the present times are called to take upon their   
   lives a prophetic role of suffering and kenosis, similar to that of the prophet   
   Jeremiah", concluded His Beatitude, citing Pope Francis' words in his apostolic   
   exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium":   
    "I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out   
   on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and   
   from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being   
   at the centre and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and   
   procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences,   
   it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the   
   strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a   
   community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life. More   
   than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of   
   remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security,   
   within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe,   
   while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us:   
   'Give them something to eat'".   
      
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