During his Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis spoke about prophets. All the baptized are already prophets and should also be aware of their role.
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“All the baptized are prophets”
As usual, Pope Francis gave his “Angelus Address” in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday. In these stories, the pontiff spoke about prophets and their role in modern times. According to his view, every baptized person is already familiar with the tasks of a prophet and therefore already fulfills the requirements to be a prophet.
Francis based his thesis on the verse Matthew 10:41, which the Catholic News Agency (CNA) quotes as follows:
“Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward”
However, a look at the Bible shows that this snippet of text only represents half of the verse. The verse reads in full (King James Version):
“He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.”
Prophets brought people together
Pope Francis believes there is a common misconception about prophets and revealed his own perspective to the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Accordingly, prophets are “not soothsayers or figures from the past, but people who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, help others to interpret the present”.
For this reason, basically all baptized prophets are already there. Anyone who points others to Jesus, bears witness to his teachings and helps people to understand God’s intentions and also align themselves with them is a prophet. Therefore, every baptized person is asked to think about their own prophetic role and to ask themselves the following question: “Am I speaking, being a prophet through baptism, and do I live primarily as a witness to Jesus?”
As bearers of God’s message, it is important to listen to and accept one another. This is independent of one’s own status or one’s own vocation. This can avoid conflicts and promote a “climate of mutual respect and understanding,” according to CNA about the Pope.
Taken off from an elevated position
Without doing any research, it is safe to assume that by “baptized” Pope Francis means “baptized” exclusively Catholic, just as he refers to Christianity exclusively as Catholicism. Therefore, the pope’s logic in relation to prophets can be classified in the same way as the pope’s claim to represent Christ’s representative (“vicarius christi”) on earth, or even the “vicarius filii dei“.
Such a prophet, as defined by Pope Francis, will therefore not represent the Word of God and bear the testimony of Jesus, but diligently spread the teachings of the catechism. The very attempt to base this thesis on Matthew 10:41 shows the Pope’s attitude that he is dealing exclusively with believers with an infantile disposition. The verse he quotes doesn’t even begin to confirm his theory. There was also no specification as to whether the “baptized” infant represented a prophet or only from a certain age.
A true prophet is a “lone fighter”
A prophet actually had far more duties than “prophesying the future.” The focus of the prophet was to bring the people who had completely lost their way, even all of Israel, back on track. A prophet was generally a “lone fighter” and not a mass phenomenon made up of millions of baptized people. The true prophet also represented the true word of God and was hated for it and often killed. Jesus Christ said it himself, Matthew 13:57:
“And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”
A parallel passage in John 4:44 explains this again:
“For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.”
The opposite is the truth
If one followed the statements of the Pope, everyone (Catholic) would be “baptized” confronted with God-given visions and dreams. Numbers 12:6:
“And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.”
As usual, the Pope’s explanations for “his” Catholic followers simply turn the facts into the opposite. Propheten was and will remain the exception, and in view of the apostasy, will not in the future advocate a “peaceful coexistence” without any conflicts. A true prophet reads the Levites to the people and that is precisely why this messenger of God is anything but popular.
As usual, the motive for the Pope’s misguidance is to gather a “human family” for common rebellion against God. United in the misbelief given by Rome and finally wiping out everything who dares to actually spread the true words of God and to bear the testimony of Jesus.
Bible verses from King James Version
