Jesus Week - Day 1 - The Now Word

O Lord, I have heard of your renown;
your work, O Lord, inspires me with awe.
Make it live again in our time,
make it known in our time;
in wrath remember mercy.
(Habb 3:2, RNJB)

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The Spirit of Prophecy

So much of the discourse on prophecy today is about the “signs of the times”, the distress of the nations, and future events. Wars, rumors of wars, upheaval in nature, society, and the Church dominates discussion. Add to that the more dramatic prophecies of a coming Warning, refuges, and the appearance of Antichrist.

Of course, much if not all of this is documented in the Revelation to St. John (the Apocalypse). But in the midst of the tumult, an angel “wielding great authority”^[1]Rev 18:1 declares to the apostle:

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Rev 19:20)

This is the very heart of all authentic prophecy: the Word of Jesus, who is the “Word made flesh.”^[2]cf. John 1:14 Every apparition, every private revelation, every word of knowledge and prediction has as its locus Jesus Christ — His mission, life, death, and resurrection. Everything should return to that; everything should bring us back to the central invitation of the Gospel found in Jesus’ own first public words…

The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel. (Mark 1:15 )

As such, this becomes the mission and proclamation of the Church as well:

Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection. —POPE ST. PAUL VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, n. 14

All our apologetics, our theology, our devotions, including the Liturgy, are intended to bring us into an encounter with Jesus and His word. Thus, said Cardinal Ratzinger:

…prophecy in the biblical sense does not mean to predict the future but to explain the will of God for the present, and therefore show the right path to take for the future… the focal point of Christian “prophecy” itself: the centre is found where the vision becomes a summons and a guide to the will of God.—Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), “Message of Fatima”, Theological Commentary, www.vatican.va

At Mass this morning, shortly after the first Gospel began, I experienced a profound encounter of God’s presence. I sensed Heaven asking me to dedicate this Passion Week as “Jesus Week,” focusing entirely on Jesus — who He is, His mission, His purpose, His divine action. I have no plan other than to place myself at the feet of the Lord and listen for the rest of this “now word” as we approach Easter over the next seven days.

The second reading today says,

…at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:10-11)

Until we call His name, our personal lives, marriages, families, cities and nations will remain in a certain discord if not destruction, for “in Him all things hold together. ^[3]Colossians 1:17 Thus without Jesus, all things come apart — and we are witnessing this now on a global scale.

Join me this week in what I pray will be life-giving words and salvation for each of us — an encounter with Jesus.

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