Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 31, 2008 - Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27]I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. (Jeremiah) Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew)
Although Jeremiah lived hundreds of years before Jesus, his lament about his ministry shows a person who, albeit with some reluctance, picked up the "cross" of prophetic ministry and carried it. Whenever he was about to despair, the "fire burning in my heart" would motivate him to continue! It's like St. Paul's expression: "to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." What indeed has motivated so many men and women to endure terrible suffering for the sake of God's service? We know that even for the holiest and best known of saints, the going was almost beyond belief at times. The publication of Mother Teresa of Calcutta's diary was a shock to some people but it simply shows how deeply the call can run that she continued in the face of terrible depression and a sense of God's absence! This is not a form of spiritual masochism. It is a graphic recognition of how important certain values are in comparison with what the "world" has to offer. Jesus' comment: What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? Is there anything any of us knows of that would be worth giving our life to day in and day out, for better or for worse? Would it be a marriage and family? A career? A cause? I know that I sent in my application to the Dominican Order as a college student because the idea wouldn't leave me alone and it still won't! Jeremiah reminds us that such a commitment will ebb and flow even as it continues. Jesus promised the disciples (and that includes us) that he would be with them till the end of time. I'm counting on that! AMEN
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