However, Father Pfleger has worked tirelessly with the black community for thirty years to make the neighborhood safe for all. He’s part of them: He makes war on drug dealers, reports to the police incidents where liquor stores are making sales to minors; he makes constant efforts to prevent gun skirmishes between gangs; he fights discrimination of any sort. The Catholic population at St. Sabina, by the way, has risen from several hundred to over two thousand during his pastorate. They love him. The color of his skin is of no concern of theirs.

In short Michael Pfleger has been the salvation of those who live in the neighborhood of St. Sabina. He is, without a doubt a social and religious activist.

Some say, of course, that he is also a “grandstander,” one who seeks attention by preaching like Black pastors preach. Of course, his own parishioners are predominately black. So, that tells a tale.

Michael Pfleger received a great deal of hate mail and threatening phone calls during this period over his style of pastoring and preaching. His response was that he had fought for justice and equality since the day, as a teenager, he heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Grant Park. That’s when his mission for justice first began.

My personal feeling is that Father Pfleger, despite his particular style as a pastor/preacher, is truly a prophet. He speaks prophetic words for which he often “takes the heat.” He’s ok with that. His sense is that religion and religious rites make little sense unless they are somehow connected to the lives of the people who live in the neighborhood. That was Jesus’ style.

The point, of course, is that if you are going to preach change, be ready for the “flack” that will come with it. Most people are seldom ready for change, especially if it affects their religious and even secular lives.

This model of prophecy and its results is precisely what we find in the scriptures for this Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jeremiah, the great Jewish prophet, was so despondent at the heat he was taking from religious leaders and people of his time that he accused God of letting him get trapped because of the hard words that God Himself had asked him to preach. “You tricked (duped) me into it,” he said. “From now on I’m just going to keep my mouth shut. Ok?

But then Jeremiah begins to think over his decision and he decides that he cannot stop saying hard things. Preaching and the love of his God lie deep in his heart. He has to say something, no matter what people say, no matter the heat.

The point of Jeremiah’s decision is that if you want to be a prophet, if you want to breathe threats, if you want to be God’s preacher, your life may become messy and miserable. You’ll catch the heat.

So, Jeremiah goes back to work, preaching God’s hard words. He could do no other. By the way, he also got himself thrown into a dry well for his efforts!

The gospel today closely matches the Jeremiah reading. Using different metaphors, Jesus tells the people who want to follow him that the road may get rough. There may be some tough times ahead. “Are you ready to carry the cross that I will carry,” he asks? “Whoever is not ready to deny himself (take the heat) and follow me, cannot be part of my vision.” “Whoever chooses the easy way will ultimately lose his way.”

The point of both these scriptures is this: Jesus’ way is never the easy way, never has been. If we want to have any sort of impact on the world, it will ultimately cost us. People generally do not like to hear hard words; it may cause them to change their life’s ways and that is always hard.

That brings the question back to us: Are we ready for change? Are we ready to take a serious look at our life’s habits, are we ready to pick up life’s crosses?

Father Mike Pfleger was ready to do precisely that, despite the heat he caught. I’m sure he must often have said to himself: “How the heck can I live with myself if I don’t pick up the cross? How can we, by the way?

The scriptures: Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a; Lk 14:1, 7-14