Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time


Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop, Doctor

Biographical Information about Saint Peter Chrysologus

Readings for Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Commentary:

Reading 1 Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21

This selection continues the Prophet Jeremiah’s lament. In these verses the prophet is having a crisis of faith in his own mission. He cries out first that he wishes he had never been born (since he was called from the womb to his mission -
Jeremiah 1:4-5). Because he constantly challenges the social traditions that are evolving, because he calls for the people to reform themselves and predicts God’s punishment if they do not, he is outcast (“I did not sit celebrating in the circle of merrymakers; Under the weight of your hand I sat alone because you filled me with indignation.”)

In response to his lament, the Lord calls Jeremiah to continue his prophetic work. First Jeremiah himself must repent from his own rebellious way and return to ritual purity (“If you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece.”) The Lord pledges unfailing support for the prophet’s mission and ultimate victory over God’s foes. (“…for I am with you, to deliver and rescue you, says the Lord.”)

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 59:2-3, 4, 10-11, 17, 18
R. God is my refuge on the day of distress.

Psalm 59 is a lament which alternates prayers for salvation with petitions to punish the enemies of the faithful. The plea for salvation in the psalm strikes a counterpoint to the lament of Jeremiah who is isolated because of his call to serve the Lord.

Gospel Matthew 13:44-46

The parable of the Buried Treasure and the parable of the Pearl have the same point. One who understands the Kingdom of Heaven and sees its worth, places obtaining that promise before all else and sees it. It is the primacy of Christ’s teaching that guides the disciple in all things.

Reflection:

We are struck at once with the irony that exists between the lament of the Prophet Jeremiah and the parables from St. Matthew’s Gospel. We hear Jeremiah’s anguish because he is outcast. We hear his loneliness because every hand is turned against him. It is the loneliness that comes from being outspoken in a just cause. He experiences the enmity of people he loves because God has called him to be a “voice” of conscience for the people.

The message of Jeremiah to his contemporaries is a call to turn away from the easy course of secular integration and to become a people set apart. As we listen to him cry our “Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth!” we can hear a little boy telling his mother – “I wish I had never been born.” And his mother would ask “What happened? Why are you so sad?” And the little boy would answer – “Some other boys were doing something bad on the playground and I told them if they didn’t stop it they were going to get into trouble. I kept warning them, and they hated me, especially when a teacher finally came along and gave them all detention. They will never be my friends. I wish I had never been born.” Of course this analogy trivializes the prophet’s lament but it is an emotional equivalent we can understand.

Against the cries of the prophet, that following God’s call had caused him isolation and enmity with his friends and neighbors, we hear the parables of the Pearl and the Treasure. We are called to set our pursuit of the Kingdom of Heaven above all else in our lives. In short we are called by these examples down the same path as Jeremiah. Placing the call and the consequence of the call on the same day is a clear indication that if we are doing it right, Christianity, lived in a secular society, will be difficult and it will cost us friends. Even today (the little boy analogy plays well in this circumstance) when we become a light to the world, we will find those who hate the light.

Today our prayer is that we can do all we can to obtain the pearl of great price, even at the cost of unpopularity and isolation from people we care about. Like Jeremiah, we hear God’s promise; ”I will free you from the hand of the wicked, and rescue you from the grasp of the violent.”

Pax

[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Jeremiah” by Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1511

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