Today, as we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, we are reminded that he was a prophet of the Most High God. He was called to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah through a prophetic word of  repentance. He was also called to prophetically point the Christ out when he came. A prophet is called to be a spokesperson of God. In baptism, we were anointed with the Oil of Chrism and were told that we share in the ministry of Jesus, as priest, prophet and king. Each of us is called and anointed as a prophet of God, to proclaim the word of God. 

Many of us may be uncomfortable with this reality in God's plan for each of us. Instead of making excuses like Jeremiah, we need to be ready to respond to our  prophetic call like Isaiah, who said, "Send me" or like Samuel, who responded to God, "Speak, Lord, your servant listens."  As the song says, "The Spirit moves", but we must learn how to be attentive and responsive to the move of the Spirit, when he gives us a word to share with others. Test to make sure it is a word from the Lord; then speak the word. The prophet is not responsible for whether the word is acted on or not, just to say what God tells him to say. My prayer is that of Moses, "Would that all would prophesize" in accord with the gift given to us by God in baptism.