Readings for Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jeremiah 13:1-11
The oracle of Jeremiah uses the metaphor of the loincloth to describe the fallen nature of the people of Judah. The loincloth, unwashed and hidden, represents the people, unrepentant and fallen away. The loincloth worn as an undergarment was the clothing worn closest to man’s most intimate parts and therefore most personal. Jeremiah uses this relationship to describe the Lord’s consideration and love for Israel which was intense (“…to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty”) whose fall therefore was so grievous to God (“But they did not listen.”)
Responsorial Psalm Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
This passage from Deuteronomy is taken from the last discourse of Moses, a section called the Song of Moses. The great leader laments that the people have turned away from the God who saved them. The song echoes God’s anger at the people who turn their backs and worship foreign gods.
Gospel Matthew 13:31-35
The Lord continues his descriptions of the Kingdom of Heaven using two parables. The parable of the mustard seed and the parable of yeast have the same point. What appears to be small grows to miraculous size. What has been insignificant is vastly important, what cannot be seen is unknowingly immense. The parables of the “Mustard Seed” and “Yeast” (see also Mark 4:30-32 and Luke 13:18-21) emphasize that from the smallest of beginnings with the proclamation of the word, the Kingdom of God expands to encompass all peoples.
Reflection:
The entire theme of the day is colored by Jeremiah and his vision of God’s lament. He describes God’s love with a rather gritty metaphor, that of a loincloth. We can tease that image apart and see that it has a dimension and depth that at first blush we might overlook.
Think about underpants – that is the purpose the loincloth served. In this case God told Jeremiah to “Go buy yourself a linen loincloth”. He then tells the prophet to wear the cloth but not to wash it. When we understand that this loincloth represents God’s chosen ones, the act of not washing the underwear is symbolic of a people who are not washed – they become dirty. When the image is of a loincloth, they become dirty with not just the dust of the journey but with bodily filth that left unwashed will fester the skin and chafe the loins.
Once the loincloth is put on, the Lord commands Jeremiah to “Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Parath.” The Parath is the name given to the Euphrates River in Old Testament times, roughly six hundred miles from where Jeremiah was in Palistine. A journey of that distance was undoubtedly symbolic as well. In this case the contamination of the people (i.e. the false gods, the violations of Mosaic Law, and introduction of values contrary to tradition) was perceived to flow from the Assyrians whose roots were in the Euphrates Valley.
When we think about the state of a loincloth, unwashed after such a journey, buried for the time it would take for Jeremiah to make that journey twice, the state of that undergarment would indeed be rotten. This was no doubt a commentary on how deeply the people had fallen into sin.
This deterioration of the relationship between God and his people is the tragic point that God laments through Jeremiah. That same refrain is also demonstrated in the Song of Moses, used as the psalm response today. Human kind constantly refuses to accept God’s love.
The shock value of this ancient parable is still there. In light of God’s later gift of his Son, and the revelation of the depth of his love for us through that action, we see even more clearly how our unrepentant nature causes grief in the loving parent (our Heavenly Father) who wants only good and wholesome things for us.
The Gospel makes it explicit. What we turn our backs on is nothing less than the Kingdom of God which has now encompassed all peoples of all nations. The invitation that started with a small and insignificant nomadic people (in terms of world population) has now been extended (like yeast in dough) to include the whole world.
And still God’s offer is rejected. Even people once faithful turn away. But as fickle as we can be, God is always faithful. His had is always extended and he invites us to wash ourselves clean and come back to him. It was for this reason that he sent his Son Jesus and for that gift we are truly thankful.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Jeremiah Buries the Girdle” by Rom de Hogge, published in 1908
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jeremiah 13:1-11
The oracle of Jeremiah uses the metaphor of the loincloth to describe the fallen nature of the people of Judah. The loincloth, unwashed and hidden, represents the people, unrepentant and fallen away. The loincloth worn as an undergarment was the clothing worn closest to man’s most intimate parts and therefore most personal. Jeremiah uses this relationship to describe the Lord’s consideration and love for Israel which was intense (“…to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty”) whose fall therefore was so grievous to God (“But they did not listen.”)
Responsorial Psalm Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
This passage from Deuteronomy is taken from the last discourse of Moses, a section called the Song of Moses. The great leader laments that the people have turned away from the God who saved them. The song echoes God’s anger at the people who turn their backs and worship foreign gods.
Gospel Matthew 13:31-35
The Lord continues his descriptions of the Kingdom of Heaven using two parables. The parable of the mustard seed and the parable of yeast have the same point. What appears to be small grows to miraculous size. What has been insignificant is vastly important, what cannot be seen is unknowingly immense. The parables of the “Mustard Seed” and “Yeast” (see also Mark 4:30-32 and Luke 13:18-21) emphasize that from the smallest of beginnings with the proclamation of the word, the Kingdom of God expands to encompass all peoples.
Reflection:
The entire theme of the day is colored by Jeremiah and his vision of God’s lament. He describes God’s love with a rather gritty metaphor, that of a loincloth. We can tease that image apart and see that it has a dimension and depth that at first blush we might overlook.
Think about underpants – that is the purpose the loincloth served. In this case God told Jeremiah to “Go buy yourself a linen loincloth”. He then tells the prophet to wear the cloth but not to wash it. When we understand that this loincloth represents God’s chosen ones, the act of not washing the underwear is symbolic of a people who are not washed – they become dirty. When the image is of a loincloth, they become dirty with not just the dust of the journey but with bodily filth that left unwashed will fester the skin and chafe the loins.
Once the loincloth is put on, the Lord commands Jeremiah to “Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Parath.” The Parath is the name given to the Euphrates River in Old Testament times, roughly six hundred miles from where Jeremiah was in Palistine. A journey of that distance was undoubtedly symbolic as well. In this case the contamination of the people (i.e. the false gods, the violations of Mosaic Law, and introduction of values contrary to tradition) was perceived to flow from the Assyrians whose roots were in the Euphrates Valley.
When we think about the state of a loincloth, unwashed after such a journey, buried for the time it would take for Jeremiah to make that journey twice, the state of that undergarment would indeed be rotten. This was no doubt a commentary on how deeply the people had fallen into sin.
This deterioration of the relationship between God and his people is the tragic point that God laments through Jeremiah. That same refrain is also demonstrated in the Song of Moses, used as the psalm response today. Human kind constantly refuses to accept God’s love.
The shock value of this ancient parable is still there. In light of God’s later gift of his Son, and the revelation of the depth of his love for us through that action, we see even more clearly how our unrepentant nature causes grief in the loving parent (our Heavenly Father) who wants only good and wholesome things for us.
The Gospel makes it explicit. What we turn our backs on is nothing less than the Kingdom of God which has now encompassed all peoples of all nations. The invitation that started with a small and insignificant nomadic people (in terms of world population) has now been extended (like yeast in dough) to include the whole world.
And still God’s offer is rejected. Even people once faithful turn away. But as fickle as we can be, God is always faithful. His had is always extended and he invites us to wash ourselves clean and come back to him. It was for this reason that he sent his Son Jesus and for that gift we are truly thankful.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Jeremiah Buries the Girdle” by Rom de Hogge, published in 1908
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