The First Prophecy: One’s Life

     It is time to allow ourselves to be “seduced” by the love of God and his Word, to allow ourselves to be completely drawn into the orbit of faith in which the impossible becomes possible and in which prophecy, before being a message, takes place by means of one’s very life. This is how it was for Jeremiah, the third companion to join us on the spiritual journey we are making these days.
     We feel him close to us. In his meditation today, Fr. Edoardo Scognamiglio sketched out the essential features of Jeremiah’s prophetic life and mission, revealing a person profoundly in love with the God who chose him “while he was still in his mother’s womb”; a person perennially tormented by doubts about his ability to carry out the mission he had received. It is moving to note how keenly he felt this. We are familiar with the prophet’s quick shifts from tenderness toward the Lord, whom he eagerly seeks, to indignation and insults. We are fascinated by his love for the Word-a burning interior fire that cannot be contained.
     One aspect of Jeremiah’s life made a particular impression on us, namely: that the destiny of those whom God calls is intimately linked to the destiny of their people. Aware of this, from our “cenacle” we are bombarding God with prayer for our communities and for the many events that today are turning our world and its inhabitants upside down.
     And this evening, at the end of the third day of our spiritual exercises, we offer the Lord our anguished plea for Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio, an Italian Jesuit who disappeared over two weeks ago in Syria. May he be found alive! We hope all of you who read this with join your prayers to ours. Thanks a lot!
Ariccia, 18 August 2013

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