Prophecy from the Holy Spirit\u2013whether in private visions, locutions or from Scripture\u2013is always a statement of God\u2019s truths projected into the future. The prophet understands human nature and understands the working of the Holy Spirit and understands how the physical, historical and spiritual, psychic worlds inter relate. The prophet is therefore enable to \u201csee into a possible future\u201d in much the same way that many people can read current events and see where they are headed. Examples: if you smoke twenty packets of cigarettes a day you may die a horrible death of lung cancer. If you go more and more deeply into debt you will eventually be bankrupt. If a people kill their babies through abortion they will eventually die out.<\/p>\n
The prophet\/seer is given an expanded or enriched version of this same, natural gift to \u201csee the future.\u201d They are specially inspired by the Holy Spirit or they have a natural gift to see more profoundly the way things are going and to give the proper warnings. We must also remember that the prophecy (like the inspiration of Scripture) is always filtered through the seer\u2019s own personal circumstances, life experiences, culture and time period. Their picture of the future is therefore better taken as a general warning rather than a specific glimpse into a pre-determined future.<\/p>\n
This brings us to a Catholic understanding of time. The Catholic understanding is that the future is open ended. God\u2019s providence rules over all, but the way it is worked out and decided through human free will. The prophet never foretells a specific event that is inevitable. That would be pagan and non-Christian. Instead the Christian prophet foretells a\u00a0possible<\/em>\u00a0future or even a probable future, but the future is open-eneded. People have free will. They can choose one path or the other and the future will be different if they do. The reason prophecies are in dream visions and use cryptic language is because, while it is possible to see the general trend of the future, it is not possible to see specific events, times, people and places.<\/p>\n What is the proper response to prophecy? Appropriately during Lent, the proper response is to heed the general warning. Pay attention to the possible future. Watch and pray. Be aware of the dangers that may lie ahead and dedicate your life to pray and work for the best outcome. Most of all, we are responsible for our our spiritual destiny. By God\u2019s grace we are headed for heaven. It is up to us to listen to all warnings and spiritual direction\u2013through prophecies and through other more ordinary means of grace and truth, and to live lives dedicated to the high calling to which we have been called.<\/p>\n Finally, the proper response is: \u201cDo not Fear!\u201d God loves the human race and this frail, beautiful planet on which he has placed us. No matter what happens, God is in charge. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Alpha and the Omega. He promises to be with always even to the end of time.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prophecy from the Holy Spirit\u2013whether in private visions, locutions or from Scripture\u2013is always a statement of God\u2019s truths projected into the future. The prophet understands human nature and understands the working of the Holy Spirit and understands how the physical, historical and spiritual, psychic worlds inter relate. The prophet is therefore enable to \u201csee into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7986","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n