Being prophets may sometimes imply making waves

"Being prophets may sometimes imply making waves. Prophecy makes noise, uproar, some say 'a mess.' But in reality, the charism of religious people is like yeast: prophecy announces the spirit of the Gospel." from A Big Heart Open to God: A Conversation with Pope Francis.  Thanks to America Magazine for providing the full text of the interview. 

This week's interview with Pope Francis I, initiated and published by international Jesuit publications issued a tsunami of analysist, commentary and blog posts. In the interview, the first of its kind with any pope in the history of the papacy, Pope Francis speaks candidly on a wide range of topics that are quickly becoming hallmarks of Francis' papacy. If you've not read the interview, do. If you've read it, re-read it. If you've re-read the interview, take time to pray over particular sections. Read the keen insights, perspectives and links as you read, think and pray over this magnificent text. Don't take our word for it. Discover for yourself the wealth of prophetic grace at your disposal through this gift of A Big Heart Open to God: A Conversation with Pope Francis 

In the spirit of Pope Francis' interview, the Roncalli Center freely offers Song of the Prophet, which echoes one of Pope Francis' comments in A Big Heart Open to God interview: "The Jesuit always thinks, again and again, looking at the horizon toward which he must go, with Christ as the center."

Christian prayer and discernment raise questions that lead to other questions about the person of Christ whom disciples follow, why we follow Christ and how we live what we discern as the people of God, a cornerstone of the Second Vatican Council. When we think and discern together as the people of God, we "think with the church as a way of being part of this people."

The lyrics of Song of the Prophet are framed within questions that address systemic injustice, power, dominant and subdominant cultures, violence and evil on behalf of the poor, the heavily burdened and those who cannot speak for themselves. The coda extols Jesus, the new Moses, as the exodus of freedom for all the world as it hungers and thirsts for God's justice and mercy through human activity and right relationship.

The lyrics of Song of the Prophet are set to the familiar and powerful hymn tune Thaxted by Gustav Holst based on the middle section of the Jupiter movement of Holt's orchestral suite The Planets. 

In his interview, Pope Francis asks three questions that emerge as an outcome from the first week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius - an encounter with Jesus in one's own journey, resulting in a personal commitment to follow Christ. Francis asks: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I do for Christ? 

In the spirit of A Big Heart Open to God and as an outcome of our shared discernment over these questions, we offer you full permission at no fee to download and reprint Song of the Prophet for your pastoral use within your own pastoral contexts. To hear a sound bite, read the lyrics and the liner notes of Song of the Prophet from the collection Tell Them About Me, click here.

The first three readers who email us at roncallicenter@gmail.com before midnight will receive a FREE hard copy of the CD Tell Them About Me that includes Song of the Prophet. Don't forget to include your mailing address. 

Let's join Pope Francis in creating prophetic 'waves' together.

Gaudium et Spes,

The Roncalli Center Team