This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church
Reading 1, Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21
10 A disaster for me, mother, that you bore me to be a man of strife and dissension for the whole country. I neither lend nor borrow, yet all of them curse me.
16 When your words came, I devoured them: your word was my delight and the joy of my heart; for I was called by your Name, Lord, God of Hosts.
17 I never sat in the company of scoffers amusing myself; with your hands on me I held myself aloof, since you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my suffering continual, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, for me you are a deceptive stream with uncertain waters!
19 To which the Lord replied, ‘If you repent, I shall restore you to plead before me. If you distinguish between the precious and the base, you shall be as my own mouth. They will come back to you, but you must not go back to them.
20 As far as these people are concerned, I shall make you a fortified wall of bronze. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, because I am with you to save you and rescue you, the Lord declares.
21 I shall rescue you from the clutches of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the violent.’
Emil Nolde: Prophet
The speeches of Jeremiah may be no more historical than those Shakespeare gives to Macbeth, but they are none the less powerful for that. The prophet is depicted as a man of peace whose message-that God will destroy the nation because of its idolatry-is so unacceptable as to arouse strife wherever it is heard. The prophet is caught between his fidelity to God and his love for his people, and is torn apart. That’s why he feels his wound is incurable and accuses God of uncertain support.
The task of saying the unpopular thing is very painful and dangerous. It will often bring isolation and discredit on the speaker. It’s easy to honour prophets when they’re safely dead, like Martin Luther King, or victorious, like Nelson Mandela; harder to hear the voice of truth and to stand with a vilified person. The shrewdness of the prophetic tradition can be heard in the words of God, “They will come back to you, but you must not go back to them.” We should note that the promise of God’s protection is only fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus.
Gospel, Matthew 13:44-46
44 ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.
45 ‘Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls;
46 when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
a pearl of great value
The discovery of the kingdom is that God is pure goodness, active in the world though created beings. That’s why it’s like hidden treasure or a pearl of great value. As soon as you know it, you want it.
- God is pure goodness: there is nothing at all but goodness in God, and certainly none of the hateful characteristics churches have sometimes attributed to Him.
- This goodness is active in the world: it is not restricted to the heavenly sphere, or to the realm of worship. It changes the world.
- It works only through creation: through things, animals, and humans, but only humans can choose to serve it.
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