Prophetess of bread

Prophetess of bread

During World War II, a battered contingent of captured allied soldiers were marched through a German village. The streets were lined with onlookers, some smiling smugly, others wiping away tears of compassion for the plight of these poor soldiers, many of them boys. The starving prisoners were utterly exhausted, their eyes dark with despair.

The silence of the scene was broken when a woman broke through, an ordinary housewife and mother, who thrust a loaf of bread into one of the prisoner’s hands before disappearing to her kitchen. Her risky act of compassion was soon taken up by others, who brought out food for the captives.

One woman’s prophetic act of courageous generosity resulted in the transformation of enemy soldiers into sons and brothers. The act “prophetically” begins with embracing what is right and just and then being willing to confront whatever evil seeks to destroy that good. In baptism, all of us are called to be prophets of God’s goodness and justice, however unpopular that prophetic act may make us, whatever cost such prophesy exacts from us.

May we possess the grace to act prophetically with compassion and forgiveness; may we possess the wisdom to listen to God speaking to us in the example and the grace of the prophets in our midst; may we possess the courage and sense of right to “proclaim” the love of God in our love of others and the justice and peace of God by the selfless integrity of our lives and convictions.