To be Prophetic
Conclusion

Finally, now, the agony of the prophetic calling must be seen in the fact that the Word is not quite enough; to be prophetic is to be engaged in creative involvement, in action that shatters old forms and unleash in the world a new power to effect change.

The last verse of the passage makes explicit the calling of Jeremiah; it is to “pluck up and break down; to destroy and to overthrow; to build and to plant.”

These are all strong verbs; for ordinary verbs are hardly enough. As in the years of Jeremiah's career, this is an hour of desperate need. There are ominous trends in our national life which give all of us a cause for deep concern. There is, for instance, the glorification of a certain kind of political power which puts too many millions in the hands of politicians for them to use according to their desire; there is the dagdag-bawas practice in elections resorted to even by so-called “born–again.” And there is of course the drug market that has sapped the energy of some of our extremely talented young people.

But one of our most critical national ills is what has been called a calamity caused by a slow process of self-destruction; this is unbridled growth of our population—the highest rate in Asia . There are today more than 2.5 million children who are neglected, handicapped, abused because of overpopulation. Says the World Bank: “The current rate of population growth will nullify the benefits of the country's economic revival, create a total wave of unemployment and swamp all the nation's natural resources within the next decade.” The prediction is already a grim reality.

For the Philippines , this is the prophet Jeremiah speaking. But the prophetic Word must be accompanied by prophetic action if we are to prevent our country from becoming again the “basket case.” We must pluck up and break down old ways, old traditions, including old theological traditions of the Middle Ages concerning birth control, if we are not to become even worse than Bangladesh.

Some years ago, the creator of Peanuts (the comic strip), Charles Schulz, visited the San Francisco Seminary when I was a student there. I have never forgotten his illustration which he did on a blackboard Charlie Brown saying: “When I grow up I'd like to be a prophet.” Linus turns his back on Charlie and says: “That's a fine ambition. The world can always use a few good prophets.” To which Charlie Brown says: “Maybe I could be a sincere false prophet.”

We trust that you concerned young people today will not be of that type—sincere false prophets. But that you will be of the mold of Jeremiah—and of Amos who, confronted with the realities of his time, did not only say the Word, but did something about it in the world.*

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