The Church cannot he popular, nor come to terms with prosperity

Laity's mission: to be prophetic nuisances
A special study adapted from a broadcast by
CARDINAL KOENIG
Archbishop of Vienna THE CHURCH MUST ALSO SAY 'NO' TO THE SATIATED WHO THINK IT IS GOD'S WILUTHAT THEY SHOULD DO WELL WHILE OTHERS FARE BADLY. SHE HAS TO SHOUT INTO THE EARS OF THE DEAF. TEAR OPEN THE EYES OF THE BLIND. SHAKE THE SLEEPERS AWAKE, EMBITTER THE GLUTTONOUS, AND ROB THE COMPLACENT OF THEIR EASY CONSCIENCES. FROM the mountains and
deserts. from the solitary places where they struggled with God for the truth, came the prophets of the Old Testament.
They took a firm stand against tyranny and murder, against adultery, lies and other offences against God. Relentlessly they directed the scourge of their sharp-edged tongues against the kings, who had let the violation of God's laws become common.
THE SINFUL KINGS AND RULERS OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT ARE THE SINFUL KINGS AND RULERS OF ALL TIME.
THE CRIMES OF
HUMANITY THEN. ARE THE CRIMES OF HUMANITY OF ALL TIME.
Nothing has subsequently occurred in the . world until our days which has not already been spoken of in the Old Testament, and against which the prophets have not raised their incorruptible, thundering voices.
11 we open the Book of Jeremiah (ii 20) we can still sense today the fury and bitterness of the prophet as he condemns the backsliding of his people. and lets Gbd speak to the people Himself: "Of old time thou has broken my yoke. thou has burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve".
And again: "flefy people have changed their glory into an idol. Be astonished, 0 ye heavens, at this! For my people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the fount of living water, and have 'Jigged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no svelter". (ii, 11-14).
MISSION
WITH the coming of Jesus Christ as the central figure in world history, the prophetic mission finds in Him its highest fulfilment. His prophetic mission is to win all people for the Word of God and to bring them, through His testimony and the authority of His mission, to accept the word.
In that solemn moment during His interrogation by Pilate. He refers to His prophetic mission: "For this I came into the world: that I should give testimony". (John, xviii, 37).
This same mission is then given to the Apostles, that they be His witnesses and shall proclaim the Gospel to all creatures: "You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and von shall be witness unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth". (Acts I. cf. Mark xvi, 15).
As the revelation is concluded with the apostolic era, the mission of the Church is to preserve the trust of the revelation by passing on the oral and written tradition and. "to explain its meaning and to profess Christ, with the help of the Holy Ghost".
WHILST IT IS THE DUTY OF THE HIERARCHY TO FULFIL THIS PI-EDGE BY TEACHING AND PREACHING, IT IS ALSO THE DUTY OF THE LAITY TO PARTICI PATE BY BEARING WIT
NESS.
Therefore. the Church, through Christ and following Christ, is the prophet among the people. 1 hrough Christ she is a prophet under the brethren. No one can take away this role of prophet from the Church which has been given her by God.
ANNOYANCE
PROPHE IS are a source of annoyance to the world. Even for themselves,
their mission, their calling. is a great burden. The prophets of the Old Testament did not seek out this calling with much enthusiasm. They too, argued with God, saying: Leave me in peace, of what concern are these people to me. Let me live in peace with the mighty ones of the world, against whom you call upon me to act.
In the Church as well, the prophets are a nuisance. and the prophetic mission is a heavy burden for the Church. For her too, it was always a great temptation to turn a deaf ear to the voice of God, to conform to the ruling system of the day, to confuse the eternal with the temporal, to take shelter under a protecting hand, to aspire to outward honours. money and influence. and then to have to resign them.
CONTRADICTION
rrHESE temptations were great in ancient times. and the Church was often on the point of succumbing to them. But. like the prophets of the Old Testament. God took the Church firmly in hand and chastised her if she became temporarily unfaithful to her charge.
FOR CHRIST DID NOT FOUND HIS CHURCH TO SAY 'YES', BUT AS A SIGN OF CONTRADICTION. ONE WHO ALWAYS CONTRADICTS IS A NUISANCE. PROPHETS ARE A NUISANCE, AND BECAUSE THE CHURCH CANNOT RELINQUISH THIS PROPHETIC MISSION WHICH WAS GIVEN TO HER BY GOD, THE CHURCH IS ALWAYS IN DIFFICULTIES WITH THE MIGHTY ONES
OF THIS WORLD.
Attempts have been made. again and again, to silence the tiresome admonishers in the Church. Attempts have been made to bribe them with money and honours, to bring them into line for reasons of state, to eliminate them by brutal oppression.
But they would not let their mouths he stopped with money and honours, they would not fall into line with a political system, nor let themselves be shut up in sacristies or imprisoned in catacombs. When an effort was made to silence them by force, then their silence sounded far more terrible in the ears of the rulers than their loudest protests.
Now, what is the position in a democracy? Here the Church can
function quite freely, Her prophetic mission is not hindered, either by temptations from outside influences or by political red tape.
In this case, the danger lies elsewhere. The Church is allowed to speak but no-one listens to her.
For those who are well off the prophets are indubitably tiresome. Perhaps the greatest temptation for the Church lies in the possibility that she may become infected by the general prosperity and well-being and simply say 'yea' to it. It is a great temptation not to come to terms with prosperity and all that goes with it! The people do not want it otherwise. Why play the prophet?
But the Church is not silent, because she cannot he silent. Even if, like most people, she is not doing too badly in this prosperous era—outwardly at least—she must reiterate that prosperity, though it can achieve a great deal, cannot, in God's eyes, achieve everything.
P1 IS NOT ENOUGH FOR GOD, FOR THE CHURCH AND FINALLY FOR THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES, THAT EVERYONE HAS HIS CAR, HIS TELEVISION SET AND HIS WASHING MACHINE; THAT CINEMA ATTENDANCES HAVE RISEN TENFOLD AND THE CONSUMPTION OF SOAP A HUNDREDFOLD.
Through the distribution of wealth, no matter how fair the distribution may be, the problem of human existence and social life, the problem of the essence and purpose of life is by no means solved.
ADMONISH
ASshe cannot utter the final 'yes'. as she must continue to admonish and question. the Church is suspect to all those who imagine they can, by forcible means. create a paradise here on earth,
To the individual, too, the Church must say repeatedly: "Do not deceive yourself. You imagine life has to he like this, that one must, as they say, move with the times, cheat a little, intrigue a little. evade a few taxes, raise the prices, scamp one's work a little, be obsequious to one's superiors and browbeat one's inferiors, always toadying and elbowing one's way through."
'No' says the Church. that will not do. The Church says 'no' also, to those to whom marriage has become a bore, and who look about for other distractions, In the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo, with the prophetic strength of a great artist, has portrayed the men of the Old Testament burdened down with the task of the prophetic mission assigned to them by God. Christ has burdened His Church with this charge also.
THANKLESS
AND, if she could not administer this often bitter and thankless prophetic charge in accordance with the rules entrusted to her: should the salt lose its savour, and her light no longer shine because it is hidden under a bushel, then this would be extremely grave for the bearers of the prophetic mission, Then the Bishop must, for himself and for all those participating in this mission, apply the words of the Church which are to he read in Matthew. veleich Christ used in anger against the false prophets: "Rut woe to von. scribes. and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for von yourselves do not enter in. and those that are going in, 1,ou suffer not to enter". (Matt xx111, 13).
And "Woe to you. scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because von tithe mint and anise and cummin. and have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy and faith. Blind guides who strain our a gnat and swallow a camel". (Matt. xxlii, 23-24).
BY VIRTUE OF HER ROLE AS A PROPHET THE CHURCH WILL NEVER BE POPULAR IN THE TRUE SENSE THAT THE MASSES WILL FLOCK TOWARDS
HER. JUST AS THE PRO
PHETS WERE STONED, SO THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ACCUSATIONS AND CHARGES OF EVERY KIND LAID AGAINST HER.
However, she herself recognises this to be a sign that she has not been quite unfaithful to the charge given her by Christ. For: "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute von", (John, xv, 20).
This applies to you also, if when you meet with hostility, you bear witness for the Church. This hostility is not directed against you personally, but against the Church which cannot say 'yes' and through you contradicts.
For both priests and laity in the Church, this destiny is painful but at the same time comforting.
1.) cf. Die Katholische Glauhenswelt, III, Herder, 1961, pp. 295.