Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Accomplishing the work of God is frequently difficult and often phenomenally demanding. Our first reading today, gives us a small glimpse into the discourse between an overwhelmed prophet (Jeremiah) who represents humanity and God who calls humanity to be part of God’s work. The gospel reading shows how important this discourse is from God’s perspective and the seeds God sows through his word (today's gospel reading). The first reading for the next few days will be taken from the prophet Jeremiah (except Thursday and Friday since they are feast days). Understanding the context of Jeremiah’s ministry will help. Jeremiah’s ministry and mission began in the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah (626 BCE). First, some quick geographical and political context: More than a century before Jeremiah appeared the Assyrian empire destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Now, in Jeremiah’s time, it was the Babylonians who were preparing to destroy the southern Kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah himself was a timid man who was commissioned to preach a very unpopular message to the unrepentant people of his time. At one point or another I am sure we have found ourselves in similar situations – bearing witness to the right and yet unpopular message. As we are consistently bombarded with trials of faith in our post-modern world, how can we find comfort and confidence in our speech to non-believers or, more importantly, to the doubter within ourselves?

We know through God’s own words that God guides our hands, our words, our actions and our very breath. As we hear in today’s first reading, God “knew us before forming us in the womb” (Jer.1:5). Sowing His seeds long before we were sowing our own…and when we find ourselves floundering in the worries and frustrations born from the battle for our souls, we can call out to God in the same way that Jeremiah did, “Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth!” (Jer. 1:6). One must agree that when dealing with an eternal being, all ages are simply youths with varied levels of experience, are they not? But we can find assurance in the fact that God says to us what he said to Jeremiah, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak” (Jer. 1:7).

That being said, we must assess our spiritual lives and assess the impact of God’s word upon us. Like a sower walking through his field called time and space, we are the seeds God scatters even as our hearts are the various types of soil and circumstance God’s word to grow and flourish a hundredfold. To bring forth God’s Kingdom, to do God’s will, to go where we are commanded in confidence even when we feel as if we do not know how or what to speak we must sincerely tend the soil of our hearts closely and daily. Our challenge is to be like Jeremiah who heard God’s call tended the soil of his heart so he may bring forth gain a hundredfold.

Karan Singh