Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Once again today we have frank, and even mournful words from the prophet Jeremiah. Yesterday we heard the people of Israel compared to a rotted loincloth. While today’s words are not quite so imaginative in portraying the worthlessness of the people of Israel, Jeremiah nonetheless illustrates the destruction of the people of Israel. They are suffering, they are hungry, they cannot overcome their situation. In desperation Jeremiah calls out to God to come to the people’s aid.
In the midst of all this suffering, the people can finally recognize their own sins and failings and their utter dependence on God for mercy and every good gift. The people have been unfaithful to God, but now they realize that God is the only god. It is a dire picture indeed, but once again, it brings out the theme of reliance on God. We often find that it is only at someone’s lowest point that they can reach out to God, depending fully upon Him. As the old song says “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” When we have nothing left to lose, we are often freed to seek our fulfillment in God.
The hope in this passage from Jeremiah comes when he asks God to “Remember you covenant with us, and break it not” (Jer 14:21). Although we are unfaithful, God will always be faithful. God has promised to care for his people, and ultimately God fulfills the covenant with us through his Son Jesus. God does remember his covenant; God keeps his promises to us even when we fall away from Him.
Our response to this blessing through Jesus who fulfills the covenant, giving us salvation, is to remember our covenant as well. God grants us salvation in Jesus; he redeems us through the life, death, and resurrection of his son. The Holy Spirit comes to strengthen us in our daily life. But we have to respond. Just as in the days of old, it is not enough for God to do all the work. We have to rest in God’s love, open and willing to being a part of the covenant. This has been a constant theme of the prophets that we have heard in the last few weeks. God loves us faithfully, and we are called to return that love whole-heartedly.
Hence we see in the gospel reading from Matthew a difficult passage regarding judgment. Jesus does not promise that every person can walk into heaven, regardless of how they have lived on earth. No, this is a matter of our desire and the way we let that desire shape our lives. If we desire God, we will struggle to live a good and holy life, to praise God at every moment and to direct all of our actions toward God for the good of our neighbors and ourselves, we will be saved. If we let other desires cloud our desire for God, then we become like weeds; God still loves us, but we are unable to love God as we should and we won’t want to be with God in heaven. God has remembered his covenant. Jesus died for us and rose from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins – for our redemption. Now we are asked to remember this covenant and to keep our promises to God. Of course, we will sometimes fail, but ultimately our success is in every step that we take, every struggle we make, to grow closer to God in each thought, word, and action.
Let us remind ourselves throughout the day of the need to remember our covenant with God.
- Maria Morrow