Those who want to be prophetic signs, even in little ways, first make a definitive choice for the Kingdom of God, excluding nothing and without the deceit of a “double life.” C. S. Lewis wrote in his book The Great Divorce: “…if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”
All true prophets receive the same mandate to discard those corrupting “souvenirs” so that their various signs might shine with supernatural purity.The sign for Isaiah was a burning coal brought by an angel from the altar of God’s fire to cleanse his “unclean lips” and so be enabled to answer: “Here I am, Lord, send me!” Moses received his first prophetic sign in the burning bush, ablaze with the fire of God’s presence but never consumed. St John the Baptist, named by Jesus as the greatest of prophets, insisted on repentance and righteous living through baptism. Instruction on how to be a prophetic sign beyond baptism is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St Paul. Those prophetic instructions speak to all ages of Christians, giving glory to God and also affirming humanity as a glorious creation, though in need of restoration by Christ’s atonement.
The missionary’s burning desire to be a prophetic sign for others begins with a prayer for purification in every area of life. His vocation, like Moses and the burning bush, is kindled by the living fire of God’s indwelling within him, and it is prefigured in Mary’s gestation when the very fire of God became a baby. When the Holy Child was born into the world, he cried loudly, even from the manger, to be cared for and embraced. Before Jesus could speak a word, he taught all who would be disciples to believe and accept him; Mary and Joseph said yes and so became the first disciples; their sign was the Holy Family.
For all ages, ordinary lay people, poets and artists have attempted to reveal the prophetic voice, along with the great theologians and mystics of the Church. The Northern Rose window at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris illustrates the prophets, kings, and judges from the Old Testament, all eminating from the center of the Rose, where the Virgin Mary embraces the infant Jesus.
The conclusion of T. S. Eliot’s poem, “Little Gidding” (from the Four Quartets) declares the mystical intersection of all prophecy: the indwelling of Divine Love, the Incarnation, where the living fire of God burns brightly and transforms, but does not destroy:
…A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
Ruth D. Lasseter
SDC Associate
Indiana, USA
