Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 30, 2024 - Tuesday in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jer 14:17-22 and Matt 13:36-43]Let my eyes stream with tears day and night without rest, over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people, over her incurable wound. If I walk out into the field, look! those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, look! those consumed by hunger. Even the prophet and the priest forage in a land they know not. [Jeremiah]
Jeremiah is easily the most personable of the great Old Testament prophets. He is known as the "reluctant prophet." He hated having to confront rulers and subjects alike with their infidelity and false piety. Yet, he felt himself under a powerful call that would not leave him alone. He was beaten, imprisoned and also thrown into a former cistern and left for dead. His ministry covered the last 40 years or so (626-587 BC) of the Kingdom of Judah (the Southern kingdom) and bears witness to the devastation of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Part of his protest is inspired by the long term failure of the reforms of King Josiah. Judah had gone back to idolatry and placed too much reliance on the sheer presence of the temple and alliances with pagan powers. But it was not so much his message that has long term value, because he did not say much that differed from Isaiah or Amos or Hosea. It is his life and his very human agony over having to be the bearer of bad news!
It is this latter witness that can be compelling in its challenge to us now. What is the cost of speaking out against abuse as contrasted with the cost of remaining silent? The interior struggles of Jeremiah are eloquently recorded by his faithful secretary, Baruch: You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed. All day long I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak I must cry out, violence and outrage I proclaim. The word of the LOrd has brought me reproach and derision all day long. I say I will not mention him, I will no longer speak in his name. But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow eary holding back, I cannot....." [Jer. 20:7-9].
Whether it be in family or personal relationships or matters of community concern - local, state, national, etc. - the cost of speaking out can deter a person from confronting abuse and speaking out. Who among us has not experienced this interior conflict? We have Jeremiah as a patron saint and inspiration. AMEN