Prophets, and Those Who Reject Them

These portions of the readings at today's Mass struck me:

In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD's temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy. (2 Chr. 36:14-16)

and,

Brothers and sisters: God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —, raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them. (Eph. 2:4-10)

First, I was struck by the reality that faced those messengers of whom 2 Chronicles speaks. They were solitary voices. The people of power, the religious people, and the typical person on the street had broken faith and their lives proved it. The prophets were sent as God's communique to these people. God meant for their attention to be caught and their eyebrows to be raised by the lives and words of the prophets and their differentness. Why? Infidelity causes suffering and destroys peace and hope and God has compassion on this suffering. We hear how the people reacted -- they mock, despise and scoff. And how about those prophets? What strikes me is that they exit stage left and we don't hear more about them in this narrative. Did they feel angry? Frustrated? Overcome with sadness? Did they start to doubt the veracity of their message? To whom did they turn?

It is interesting to me that the text suggests the Lord's anger was inflamed not so much by the infidelity of His people or their abominations, but by their rejection of His advances towards them as he tries to make it clear within their lives what His will is by sending people, who are, and who speak, messages, to them. It is interesting to me also that even though the prophets have no control over how their message is received, God does not allow them and their memory to be disrespected forever, but takes their part.

That same compassion is evident in St. Paul's letter. God is always moved by His love. It is not about us, it is about Him. God has an intricate plan and has created a part for each one. We are not His workhorses or His grunts, however. As God's beloved creation, we truly find our freedom in doing that for which we are created. As we give our all to Him the gift we receive in return is the fullness of ourselves, and we are free in turn again to lose ourselves in God. The circularity of this is like God's embrace around us.

In the midst of this the message I took from Mass today was to love carefully. By this I understand the need to make an effort to look well to the details of how to make use of the opportunities that come my way, like an artist who looks for just the right precise detail to add to a painting, or a musician the precise finesse on a tone. Both seek to capture Beauty as it is reflected in the work he does. So too I want to seek to capture Beauty in loving -- not beauty that is done because anyone is likely to notice it, but because the execution of a work intrinsically demands it. Because it seeks Beauty. Love, seeking Beauty. Love, seeking Love. Love carefully.