We have to clarify the concept of prophet these days. Sadly, even as a word, it's now hardly heard. No one talks nowadays about being a prophet. That's unfortunate because to be a prophet is an integral part of our Christian identity.

We all share in different ways in the prophetic mission of Christ and the Church, because we are made in God's image and likeness, raised to the level of grace to be God's children, and somehow commissioned also by Christ to go "preach to all nations…."

The ideal is that we all think and speak as God thinks and speaks. That's God's will.

That's how we are also made. Obviously, given our human condition this ideal has to be pursued in stages, in varying levels and degrees, and to contend with all sorts of factors, conditions and challenges.

It's also because of this that certain persons are given special gifts of prophecy to help others to become prophets themselves eventually. St. Paul says:

"He that speaks in a tongue, edifies himself, but he that prophesies, edifies the church." (1 Cor 14,4)

But we should never understand this to mean only a few are meant to be prophets. All of us are meant to be prophets!

What makes this whole business more exciting these days is that it seems to be prophetic is concerned almost exclusively about politics. We get the impression that prophesying is reduced to things political.

Some priests and religious talk about being prophets only when they want to say something about political issues. Now that elections are coming, we hear this word more often in that context.

Some portray themselves as mystic-prophets, often to denounce and condemn both persons and problems, many times straying already into partisan politics. Others are organizing seminars to know how to be a prophet in politics.

Not that they can't. In fact, they should in some opportune moments. To be sure, to be a real prophet in politics can be considered as one of the highest, if most difficult, way of exercising the prophetic mission. It's just that being a prophet involves a lot more than what they so far are showing in public.

It requires not only the sacraments, but also the doctrine well assimilated and lived. It requires a living union with God, a real sanctity and genuine integrity, and not just put-on patina of righteousness.

It requires a lot of patience, broadness of mind, prudence, flexibility, capacity to integrate varying and often competing factors. It requires discretion, fortitude, rectitude of intention, good manners and even cheerfulness, and, of course, charity.

It also involves a constant effort to evangelize, not only in the big things like business, politics and other social concerns, but also and mainly in the little and ordinary things that are with us always.

To be a prophet in politics is actually a must. We just need also how to respect the nature and character of politics, just like any other temporal and earthly affairs we have.

There is a certain autonomy in politics that needs to be understood and handled well.

It's this autonomy that precludes easy dogmatization of views and positions that in itself are open to opinion. It attracts pluralism of views that should be respected.

We have to be understand well that the subject of rights that should be respected always are the persons who have to be considered in their concrete circumstances, with all their positive and negative traits.

It's not the "truth" understood as the many views and opinions we have regarding certain issues that have the rights. Thus, even if we are sure that our views are the correct ones, we need to learn to discuss, dialogue, negotiate, practice tolerance, etc., in the political space that should be given to all of us.

Preaching Christ in politics is in this kind of attitude and practice. It's not in ramming our views on others just because we think they are the right ones. That would be a kind of tyranny and dictatorship, of unhealthy clericalism. Christ preferred to die on the cross than fall to these practices.

Besides, if present examples are to be considered, many of these views are outright partisan and often based on biases, hearsays, anger, etc.

We need to learn how to be real prophets in politics! We need to purify and upgrade our understanding and culture regarding our prophetic mission in politics.

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Fr. Roy Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE) in Talamban, Cebu City. You can email him at:Email: roycimagala@boholchronicle.com