Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - Wednesday in the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
[Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21 and Matthew 13:44-46]Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth! a man of strife and contention to all the land! I neither borrow nor lend, yet all curse me!
When it comes to WOE, Jeremiah has few competitors, whether it be pronouncing woe to others or woe to himself! In fact, his name has become a word in the English language: a "jeremiad" is a declaration of woe! He is called "the reluctant prophet" because of his continual complaints to God about how difficult the ministry of the prophet is! Just look at the lines from today's first scripture, quoted above! Yet, the job does have its good moments too as another line puts it: When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, because I bore your name, O Lord, God of hosts. I once gave a wall plaque to my dad which had the following words on it: Lord, let my words be gracious and tender today, because tomorrow I may have to eat them. Jeremiah knows that even the words of God - perhaps, especially the words of God - may have terrible consequences for himself and those who hear them. Yet, we know that he experienced these words as a "fire" within him (Jer 20:9) that he could not resist. He knew he would be "afflicting the comfortable" and it would cost him dearly. Perhaps we in our own time are in need of some of that Jeremiah talk to wake us up to the way our standard of living has deadened us to God's word. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
62 ms
4
