September 29th, 2024 - Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Prophets are almost always outside the mainstream; they frequently look different and sound different than other leaders.  St. James certainly speaks with a prophetic voice in today’s second reading. He chastises all those so-called religious people who have been piling up wealth at the expense of the poor.  Jesus himself delivers a prophetic message to his disciples when he urges them to take drastic measures to avoid sin and scandal. His words are powerful: “Whatever causes you to sin, cut it out!”  Prophets often have to do the dirty work of pointing out to the masses where they have gone astray and how they have to make straight their paths. There are any number of issues today in which we need prophets -- Christians who are willing to buck the tide of popular opinion and swim upstream. The truth is by our baptism, we all are called to share in the prophetic work of Christ.