The Readings for this Sunday show both Jesus and
Jeremiah facing opposition for speaking God’s truth to their
contemporaries. They raise interesting
questions about why it is that the “good person” so often suffers at the hands
of others, and offer encouragement to those who experience this suffering.
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
This Reading from Jeremiah sets up a comparison
(a typology) between Jeremiah and Jesus in the Gospel below. Both prophets faced opposition from their
contemporaries.
One of Jeremiah’s major contributions to
salvation history and Christian theology is his own person as a type of Christ,
more so than any other prophet.
Biography plays little role in the Book of Isaiah, but a large role in
Jeremiah. In many ways, Jeremiah becomes
absorbed into his prophetic ministry, such that not just his words but his own life experiences become transformed into “prophesy.”
Indeed, tradition remembered Jeremiah as the
quintessential suffering prophet, and more than one scholar has proposed that
the “Suffering Servant” of the second half of Isaiah was modeled on
Jeremiah. Thus it is unsurprising that
Jeremiah is the first of the literary prophets that Jesus’ contemporaries
compared to him:
“Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist,
others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Mt 16:13-14).
The similarities abound:
(1) chosen from the womb (Jer 1:5; Lk
1:31);
(2) destined for rejection and conflict with
their people (Jer 1:18-19; Lk 2:34-35),
(3) called to celibacy (Jer 16:1-4; Mt 19:10-12),
(4) likened to a sacrificial lamb (Jer 11:19; Jn
1:29,36),
(5) betrayed by those closest to him (Jer 12:6;
Jn 13:18,38 etc.)
(6) preach against the Temple and predict its
destruction (Jer 26:2-6; Mk 11:15-19, 13:1-2)
(7) opposed and persecuted by the chief priests
for doing so (Jer 20:1-3; 26:7-9; Mk 11:18)
(8) condemned to death for doing so (Jer 26:8-9;
Mk 14:57-58)
(9) tried by a vacillating, partly sympathetic,
yet weak-willed civil magistrate (Jer 37:16-38:28; Jn 18:28–19:16)
(10) cast into a pit and raised up from it again
(Jer 37:6-13; Jn 19:40–20:18).
As I mentioned above, in many ways, both
Jeremiah and Jesus fit the profile of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant of the LORD
(e.g, Isa 52:13-53:12), though ultimately Jeremiah is not the royal figure the
Servant is. Nonetheless, the Church’s memory and liturgy holds up Jeremiah as a
proto-type of the suffering prophet fully realized in Jesus of Nazareth.
In today’s First Reading and Gospel Reading, we
are confronted with the reality that righteous men who are fulfilling the will
of God (Jeremiah and Jesus) are disliked and opposed by their
contemporaries.
This raises an important question: why are “good
people” disliked? This question was raised again in public consciousness in wake of the recent March for Life. Why does this event elicit such hatred and vitriol from persons in politics and the media? Who could be against saving the lives of babies?
I suppose many of us in childhood tried to “do
what’s right” on the assumption that it would “win friends and influence
people.” After all, wouldn’t others like
a person who keeps his promises, practices kindness and honesty, does his work
faithfully, etc.? At some point in our
development, however, we began to realize that doing the good does not
necessarily lead to popularity.
Why? For various reasons:
First, there are others who get pleasure from
practicing some sort of vice, and the very presence of a person who refrains
from that vice is a kind of silent rebuke, a prick of the conscience. But to cease their vice would involve the loss
of some personal pleasure, so their reaction is to try to drive away the “good person”
whose presence awakens their conscience.
Second, to seek the good means to oppose
injustice. The “good person” cannot
stand by silently while others are abused.
Yet there are many in society who profit from the abuse of others—for
example, the executives of Planned Parenthood, who profit from the killing
unborn children, and make generous contributions to America’s ruling party,
setting up a dynamic of monetary profit and political power. So certain individuals come to have a vested
interest in the perpetuation of injustice.
Other obvious examples would be the institution of slavery both in
America and elsewhere, and the current worldwide (and immensely profitable)
scourges of human sex trafficking and pornography.
The “good person” cannot be silent in the face
of these evils. As our own Bishop
Monforton of Steubenville once said in a homily, “Silence never helps the
victim, only the oppressor.”
Yet to speak out means to run afoul of those who
often wield a great deal of power and wealth gained through vice—power and
wealth which enables them to inflict every sort of harm on the “good person,”
intimidating them socially or physically, destroying their reputation in the
press, suing them, in some cases even killing them.
At times other “good people,” who are not
sympathetic to the evil doer, are nonetheless cowed by him or her, and will
distance themselves or even turn on the one with the courage to denounce the
evils the evildoer is perpetrating, lest they suffer in the reprisals that the
evildoer unleashes on the courageous one.
This is a particularly painful trial for the one who speaks out: now he
finds himself abandoned or attacked even by those he considered his friends.
This is the perpetual human condition. The reality of sin in human society means
that the quest to be like God, to do the good, to attain holiness, will
inevitably lead to conflict with others who are not on that quest. Our Lord taught us so in his most famous
sermon:
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all
kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great
in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt
5:10-12)
Persecution is one of the marks of a
true prophet. Jeremiah and Jesus were
true prophets, but we also share the prophetic role, if we have been baptized
into Christ. When Jesus says, “so men
persecuted the prophets who were before
you,” he implies that we, too, are prophets (see Catechism §783). But by definition prophets cannot remain
silent.
2. Our Responsorial
Psalm is Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17:
R. (cf. 15ab) I
will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
This psalm brings comfort and consolation to
those who seek “righteousness” and the “kingdom of heaven,” and so experience
the persecutions Jesus talks about. They
can depend on God, who cares about them “from their mother’s womb,” which
reminds us of God’s choosing of Jeremiah “before I had formed you in your
mother’s womb.” From conception to
natural death, those who love God and seek his face find their strength and
consolation in him. He will “rescue them
from the hand of the wicked,” even if only in the next life, when the
Resurrection will right the wrongs of this life.
3. Our
Second Reading is 1 Cor 12:31—13:13:
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
This Reading from St. Paul offers an important
balancing perspective to the lessons on persecution from the First Reading and
Gospel. In the face of persecution, it
is easy to become bitter, self-righteous, and hateful toward the
persecutors. St. Paul reminds us “love
does not brood over injury … Love bears all things … endures all things.” The Christian who simply gives into self-righteous
indignation and condemnation of the “wicked” in society can become like “a
resounding gong or clashing cymbal”—a harsh, unpleasant sound that does not
speak to the heart. The challenge for
the Christian is to learn to suffer persecution while still practicing and
showing love.
“Love never fails,” because it is the one virtue
that will operate for eternity. Faith
and hope only operate in this life, where we do not yet “see” (so we have to
have faith) and we have not yet “obtained” (so we have to hope). When we see God face to face in the next
life, and obtain the good things He has promised us, faith and hope will no
longer be necessary—nor prophecy, nor prophetic knowledge—yet we will continue
to love God and one another for all eternity.
4. Our
Gospel is Lk 4:21-30:
Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
This Gospel Reading picks up seamlessly from
last week’s, and in it we find Jesus encountering the most hostile reaction
from his own town folk, much like Jeremiah did long ago (see Jer 11:18-23,
where Jeremiah’s own town folk plot to kill him). They are particularly offended that Jesus
cites examples from the Old Testament in which the great Israelite prophets did
not minister to people in Israel, but went to heal and bless the Gentiles: the
Sidonian woman of Zarephath, the Syrian general
Naaman.
The people of Nazareth were good
Israelites. In fact, Benedictine bible
scholar and archeologist Fr. Bargil Pixner argues that they were largely
descendants of the royal House of David.
In any event, they felt like they were special. They had a unique claim on God. God’s blessings were for them, not for the
wicked Gentiles!
They forgot that the reason God chose Abraham,
the father of the Israelites, was so that Abraham and his descendants would
bring “blessing to all the families of the earth” (Gen 12:3). They forgot that the great prophets foresaw
salvation for all the Gentiles, as in this famous passage from Isaiah
Is. 49:5 And now the LORD says, who formed me from the
womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be
gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has
become my strength — 6 he says: “It is
too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the
nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Again we have the theme of the “prophet formed
from the womb” who brings salvation to all the nations.
Surely from a biblical perspective, God knows
each of us from the womb and has planned for each a mission and purpose for our
lives. As prophetic people of God, we
cannot be silent about this Good News.
The Readings for this Sunday call us to face
persecution with courage, knowing that persecution is the mark of the true
prophet. Those who share Christ’s
prophetic role through baptism cannot hope to avoid persecution in this
life. At the same time, we cannot give
in to hatred, bitterness, and self-righteousness. Unlike the people of Nazareth, we have to
practice love, and remember that the Good News is for all people, not our
personal possession. Prophets speak out
about injustice, yes—but in the hope that all will repent and be saved by
entering the love of God.
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