Review: Kaveny's Prophecy Without Contempt | National Catholic Reporter

Review: Kaveny's Prophecy Without Contempt | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Spirit of Prophesy must be grounded in love or there is no point to it, whether it be love of country or love of your fellow religionists.  It is always based on present controversy, but is written in the future tense - both describing what will happen if it is not heeded and what life will be like once it is - in the Jewish tradition in "the day of the Lord."  Revelation was not about Rome, it was about the Gentile Church and was written by a Judaizer who seems to have come out on the wrong side.  Interestingly, we are waiting for his predictions to come true, though they have nothing to do with our time, or any other future period.



Any analysis of prophesy should be grounded in the ancient experience of it and move from there, including the time of the Apostles.   Some form of God should be intimately involved with it, however a large bit of it should discuss how the Church is performing.   It should, of course, take into account modern thought.  Not everyone has a problem linking the enlightenment with the Christian tradition.  Indeed, its easy.  The Thomistic and Aristotelian models of free will depend on the fact that in no place in the world is the attractive Good entirely revealed - which leaves each individual free to act.  The collection of those individuals must either resolve into the general will or the democratic will, with the general will being unanimous and the democratic will requiring force.



Having grounded in traditional moral philosophy and religion, we can move to the present day.  Whether harsh discourse is a good thing or not is a matter for prophesy to resolve.  Will it move us forward or will it lead us to death?  Are the harsh voices speaking in Christ or are they glorifying their own egos?  Do they speak truth or are they seeking favor, as the pro-life cause does?  What do they say about the Church?  If they love the Church, they must speak out when it commits error.  Most importantly, what do the modern prophets say about the poor?  Note that this is not the province of the educated - prophesy is gift, not something you get with a degree.  You know who has the gift by their fruits - by what they say.  If it is true, they are authentic.  If they lie, it will be clear.



The Internet has allowed many to be prophets, from established writers like MSW to freelancers like your not-so-humble servant. Some prophets run for President, like Bernie Sanders, while others, like Pope Francis, call us to holiness in a way no pope has done since St. John XXIII (holiness and loyalty to the Magisterium are two very different things, thus sayeth the Lord).  Those most holy put themselves on the line, like the Barrigan brothers and Archbishop Oscar Romero, who paid with his life for the gift or prophesy and received a martyr's crown