Word to the Wise
Friday, July 23, 2010 - Friday in the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
[Jeremiah 3:14-17 and Matthew 13:18-23]At that time they will call Jerusalem the Lord's throne; there all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the Lord at Jerusalem, and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness. [Jeremiah]
I remember well the comfort that came at the end of a bedtime story with the words, "And they lived happily ever after..." At age 67, I still find those words comforting even when I know that the "happily ever after" doesn't happen quite as often as I would like! Even so, in the stories, the happy ending comes only after some rather frightening challenges. Jeremiah's words today come after an extended reflection on the infidelity of the two "kingdoms" of Israel and Judah to their spousal relationship with God. (The "Northern Kingdom" would fall in 721 BC and Jerusalem in 587 BC. Jeremiah was preaching just before the latter.) All marriages have their difficult times, but the one between God and the Chosen People seemed to have had more than its share! The principal problem was the introduction of religious practices from surrounding cultures - in short, idolatry! With the introduction of those cultic practices came the cultures as well and a dependence on them. The "kings" were using marriage as a way of sealing alliances. The new wives were insisting on their religions, etc. etc. The words of Jeremiah today remind everyone, and not just the Israelites, that God is the God of all. All nations are subject to God. In a day of "globalization" of just about everything on this planet, we might bear in mind that we didn't create this planet or any other! We Christians need to remember the history of our faith and its call through baptism (This is not necessarily the same as "church history!"). As Mother Teresa of Calcutta put it, "God has not called us to be successful. God has called us to be faithful." When we forget to be faithful, we bring about our own downfall. God always offers us the hope of return, but we can destroy ourselves to the point of no return. It's better to work for the "happily ever after," I think! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
63 ms
4
