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| “St. Anne with the Virgin and Child and St. Joachim” (Detail) by Joos van Cleve, c. 1520 |
Reading 1: Jeremiah 7:1-11
The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
Stand at the gate of the house of the Lord,
and there proclaim this message:
Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah
who enter these gates to worship the Lord!
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.
Put not your trust in the deceitful words:
“This is the temple of the Lord!
The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!”
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds;
if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;
if you no longer oppress the resident alien,
the orphan, and the widow;
if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place,
or follow strange gods to your own harm,
will I remain with you in this place,
in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.
But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your
own loss!
Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,
burn incense to Baal,
go after strange gods that you know not,
and yet come to stand before me
in this house which bears my name, and say:
“We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again”?
Has this house which bears my name
become in your eyes a den of thieves?
I too see what is being done, says the Lord.
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Commentary on Jer 7:1-11
In this passage, the Prophet Jeremiah, once more speaking with
God’s voice, issues a call and a warning to the people who come the Temple that
they must reform – repent – turn away from the evil, blasphemy, and callousness
many have fallen into (“if each of you
deals justly with his neighbor; if you
no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no
longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own
harm”). It is only if they do this
that God will continue to remain with them. “The temple of the Lord will not
serve as a place of refuge for the Jews against their enemies if they fail to
reform their evil ways.”[4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11
R. (2) How lovely is your dwelling
place, Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my king and my God!
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the
house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
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Commentary on Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11
Psalm 84 was used to celebrate pilgrimages to the Temple
in Jerusalem
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Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man
who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
“First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Commentary
on Mt 13:24-30
Jesus tells another parable, about the harvest this time. Here we
see his reference to the “good seed” and “bad seed”. The good seed here, since
this is references as an analogy to the Kingdom of God
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Reflection:
As painful as it is, we must examine the failings of our Church in dealing openly with the historical abuses of our clergy and how these matters were dealt with. While not precisely analogous the Penn State University scandal a couple of years ago certainly exemplifies how an institution may be harmed by one individual's inability to restrain their worst impulses. It is believed by most people who have followed these stories that the individuals involved are the worst kinds of hypocrites, preying on those they have pledged to serve.
Jeremiah’s words most
directly apply to people like these and any others who try to shield themselves
from public ridicule by hiding themselves in a community of faith. Hypocrisy is
one of the favorite targets of the God of Justice, and his Son for that matter.
It is one of the great gifts of the Church that we are allowed to be repentant
and it is clear, even from the time of Jeremiah that those who had transgressed
God’s law were allowed to make amends and return to God’s favor. When the Jesus
came, he provided two forms of grace for those who wish to follow him. First
the initial cleansing in Baptism whereby all previous sins are washed clean and
a new beginning is made. Once that initial adoption is made our recourse is to
the Sacrament of Reconciliation where our repentance is accepted and God’s love
is expressed.
Does that mean that the
Church is not an inviting refuge for those who are enthralled with sin outside
her walls? No, on the contrary, the safety of God’s love is viewed by predators,
the bad seed in Christ’s parable, as being our weakness. Those who care nothing
for human dignity find it amusing that we gullible Christians would show them
Christ’s love when they would take everything we have if they could. To those
who have had evil sown in their hearts, the fires of the harvest chaff are
waiting.
Our challenge is first to
constantly turn away from sin and, through sacramental grace, realign ourselves
with Christ. Second, we recognize that as wheat we grow up among the seed sown
by the evil one but even that can be turned to good, so we must never stop trying
to invite those around us, in spite of the risk of disappointment, to come back
to the Lord with all their hearts.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture is “St. Anne with the Virgin and Child and St. Joachim” (Detail) by Joos van
Cleve, c. 1520
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
NAB footnote on Jeremiah 7:1-15
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