"Deliver us from Evil"

Today's Mass readings

The book of the prophet Jeremiah is a rather poignant piece of prophetic literature. On the one hand, Jeremiah was a courageous and credible prophet. On the other hand, he often felt that God was letting him down by letting his enemies have an upper hand. He struggled to understand why his enemies could not be simply destroyed by God so that God’s own message preached by Jeremiah could reform the corrupt monarchy of the time and thus escape the impending disaster at the hands of the Babylonians. We see both these sentiments in today’s first reading. While his enemies are plotting to destroy him, Jeremiah asks a very basic question: “Must good be repaid with evil?” The moral life during the time of the King Zedekiah was particularly depraved. This only emboldened Jeremiah to intensify his call for repentance. Because of this he was imprisoned, beaten and left to die in a well. Jeremiah survived the ordeal and witnessed the destruction of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians.

Jeremiah’s life and ministry leads us to the gospel reading. Jesus was aware of the murderous plots against him. He points it out to his disciples. It would not be hard to speculate that perhaps Jeremiah’s question haunted Jesus as well: “Must good be repaid with evil?”

The ministries of Jeremiah and Jesus are rather paradoxical. Their ministry was necessary because of the presence of sin and evil. However, because they both rejected evil they become the victims of the very evil they worked to destroy. Every Christian who tries to live a virtuous live can expect that.

We confront evil many times each day. It takes courage and the power of God to both confront it and to neutralize its hold on the world. Can we be a modern day Jeremiah?

Let us use Psalm 31:15-16 as inspiration.

But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.