Called to be Prophets?

[franciscanheart]

Are we all ordained prophets in the same way Ezekiel was ordained a prophet? Does God send each of us in the same way He sent Ezekiel? I have heard much lately, talk about being prophets to the nations. I'm told this literally -- the person saying I am today's Ezekiel -- and it just rubs me the wrong way. Yes, I am called to respect and share God's word and God's love, but am I a PROPHET? If I had to guess, no.

[Basilisa Marie]

Yes and no. Ezekiel is my favorite prophet hands down, but hes also totally batpoo crazy (in an amesome way). He's a totally radical prophet and most people aren't called to be prophets like him. 

We're all called to exercise the functions of priest, prophet, and king by virtue of our baptism. But that's going to look totally different based on your state in life and just who you are as a unique person. Being a prophet is about proclaiming the Gospel and living your life as a sign of the Gospel for others. In a lot of ways it's about being counter cultural, but it's also about ministering to the people in your particular time and place. There's also a prophetic element to it, based in our eschatological hope in Christ. That is, we believe and hope in the life of the world to come, in Heaven and the new creation, and that Christ will come again. These hopes will become a reality for the world someday, and we should be living our lives in such a way that reflect our beliefs in them. 

God isn't calling all of us to refuse to mourn our dead spouses, knock down walls, and lay down in the middle of the street as signs to the people around us of what is to come (like Ezekiel did). But we're all called to prophesy, because we're baptized.