A prophet is not a model of holiness; he/she is someone who has taken the Word of God seriously, one who has the courage to stand up and confront the system, in response to a call received from God. As strange as it may seem, prophets come from among the ranks of very ordinary people who lead very ordinary lives! A prophet is someone who sounds the wake-up call, someone who constantly reminds us of the importance of the message of the Word of God, whose salvation is for all and wishes to be close to the marginalized and outcasts of society.

One helpful method to go about educating people in the area of Justice and Peace, is to compare one's personal lived experience with the manner in which certain persons lived their prophetic witness.

The following is a "true or false" quiz that you could use to begin a discussion.

a prophet is someone who predicts the future a true prophet is one who insists in getting across his/her own ideas prophets are called by God all prophets are revolutionaries. there are no women prophets. prophets are always well received by the people. there do exist prophets outside of Israel. the prophet is a saint. Elijah was the first prophet. prophets are systematically against worship. the prophets were accountable for the way they lived their call from God the prophets knew they were inspired by God when they spoke. Amos really wanted to be a prophet. prophets are always poor. every prophet left a written account of his/her actions.

(The answers to the quiz can be found in the appendix to this workbook)

As an echo to the previous quiz, here are quotes taken from a text produced by the Religious Conference of Brazil:

" The prophets of the Bible and their challenge to the Christian life."

- the prophet is first and foremost a critic.

1. A prophet announces and denounces situations of oppression in the hope of bringing about conversion.

2. A prophet is filled with compassion and is convincing.

3. A prophet is not afraid to stand up to the authorities and to speak out in the name of the defenseless. He/she takes sides with the poor, thus demonstrating God's preference for those in need.

4. A prophet is often persecuted because he/she dares to ask the difficult questions.

-the prophet is a religious critic.

5. The prophet represents God; he/she speaks in the name of God.

6. The prophet is lead by the Spirit. He/she is inspired and moved by the Spirit and cannot resist the action of God.

7. The prophet proclaims the Word of God and those who hear him/her can no longer remain indifferent, they are forced to make a choice.

8. The prophet is free. For them it is a matter of only obeying the call of God.

- the prophet criticizes reality

9. The prophet is the child and the interpreter of the crisis. He/she appears in times of chaos desolation and misery. A prophet awakens the conscience of the people.

10. The prophet is of the "here and now ." He/she does not make long theoretical speeches but speaks to the historical reality. He/she is radical but not idealist, utopic but not a head-in-the-clouds dreamer."

There exist numerous texts that speak of the different aspects of the life of the prophet. Perhaps the bishops of your country have published similar documents? Does the Order know about them? Have you done anything to make them known to the others? If you participated in writing one of these texts why don't you get copies and distribute them? Don't forget to sent us a copy!

Modern day prophets constantly remind us of how important it is to take action:

• to speak out against exploitation, the corruption of justice and areas of hypocrisy within worship.

• to not give in to the seduction of the idols of power prestige and possessions as presented to us by the media and is based on the ideology of consumerism.

• to promote social justice in human relationships.

• to be aware of what is happening around us and to help move these situations forward.

• to bring these situations of injustice to our individual and communal prayer and to turn to our knowledge of scripture to help in bring resolution to them.

• to evaluate the manner we express our faith so as to make it more relevant and meaningful for our contemporaries.

• to be bearers of hope of a project of justice and of "quality of life".

Prophets call us to organize our lives in a way that makes it possible for us to tale up the challenge given to us by God that of taking sides with the poor and those cast aside and forgotten by the powers that be.

Although it would be pretentious of us to think that we are all "universal" prophets we must remember that by virtue of our mission we have the duty to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom through word and deed. We are constantly called to give witness in word and deed to the expression of Psalm 85: righteousness and peace now embrace." At the General Chapter of Walberberg and Oakland the brothers spoke of the prophetic aspect of our life in the following manner.

"The best tradition of our Order indicates that our preaching has always been prophetic. Preaching that is purely theoretical and abstract, a simple intellectual exposé on a system, is not in keeping with the spirit of Saint Dominic and does not constitute a manner of proclaiming the gospel that is acceptable for today's world... Prophetic preaching must be founded on a serious analysis of the signs of the times, based on supernatural principles and supported by prayer... If we are to discern the signs of the times, we must listen to the cry of the poor, the oppressed, the excluded, the rich and those who suffer persecution because of their race, their religion, their stand against injustice. God speaks to us through their cry as well as through the silence of those who live in apathy, solitude and despair. " (Walberberg, ch 2, A1)

"If they are to become prophetic signs for this world, the actions for justice and peace must be meet three strict criteria.

1. they must be communal, that is to say, explicitly integrated into the local, provincial and regional projects.

2. they must be well thought out, that is to say, they must be founded on a serious analysis of the social reality and be rooted in strong biblical and theological foundations.

3. they must ensure support to the brothers and sisters who actively participate -- sometimes to the point of risking their life --, in associations and movements for the promotion of human dignity."(Oakland, Our Priorities, ch. 3)

These statements from the General Chapters of the brothers flow directly from the fundamental constitution of the Order, the founding text of our common belonging to the Dominican family:

"... we have as our special function the prophetic office, by which the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed everywhere by word and example, with due consideration for human circumstances, time and place, so that faith be given new life... " (LCO 1,5).

The sisters place a great deal of importance on the prophetic dimension of their commitment and they have numerous texts we could have quoted from. The goal of many of the institutions founded by congregations of Dominican sisters was to provide an alternative solution to the mechanisms of exclusion, that in most circumstances affect the lives of the poor, of women and minority groups. Such institutions "speak-for" (prophecy) God's love.

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