Commentary on the Gospel of
Speaking Truth to Power
Nathan is a prophet much needed for our times—one who can nonchalantly speak truth to the powers that are, within and outside the Church, be it about state-sponsored terrorism, rejection of immigrants, climate change, gender violence, sexual abuse, or clericalism. When nation-wide peaceful protests arose in a country when its government ventured to pass a law that was clearly discriminatory, a citizen-religious I know felt troubled by the silence of the Church in that country and wrote to a church official about it. But the official’s reply was an appeal to prudence as the Church was an easy target for the government that had already initiated financial investigations and income tax notices against ecclesial institutions…Sadly, we would rather risk the sheep to preserve our institutions and finances! We need Nathans who speak truth to power.
