By Father Paul Nord
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13; Responsorial: Psalm 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35; Second Reading: Romans 5:12-15; Gospel: Matthew 10:26-33
In Jeremiah chapters 11-20, the prophet laments the rejection and persecution that he faces as a prophet faithful to God. Even Jeremiah’s own family rejects him (Jeremiah 11). Jeremiah warns the Israelites that their sins will bring suffering upon them. Ironically, Jeremiah is suffering for speaking this truth to people who reject it. Jeremiah cries out (Jeremiah 12:1): “O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper?”
While Jeremiah laments and prophesies about Jerusalem’s eventual destruction, false prophets were announcing peace and prosperity. Jeremiah further laments that the people neither listen nor repent. God’s judgment is coming upon them. In Jeremiah 14, a drought comes upon Jerusalem. The fields dry up. The wells dry up. The people cry out for rain, but they trust only in idols, not in the Lord God.
God forbids Jeremiah from interceding for the people: “The LORD said to me: ‘Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and cereal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence’” (Jeremiah 14:11-12).
God commands Jeremiah not to marry nor have children. God also forbids Jeremiah from attending funerals or wedding feasts. In this way, Jeremiah is further alienated from Israelite society. The people further reject Jeremiah and his prophetic message.
In Jeremiah 17, the prophet again calls upon the people to repent and trust in the Lord. Still they refuse to follow God’s commands. Jeremiah 18:6 compares the Lord to a potter. God says: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” The message is that if God, the potter, judges a piece of shaped clay to be ruined, then God will destroy it and rework the clay as he wishes. So God will do with the Israelites in order to change their evil ways.
In Jeremiah 20, the prophet is beaten and imprisoned. He is released, but he prophesies again: “Thus says the Lord: ‘All Judah I will deliver to the king of Babylon, who shall take them captive to Babylon or slay them with the sword’” (Jeremiah 20:4). This leads into today’s reading. Jeremiah said: “I hear the whisperings of many … ‘Denounce! Let us denounce him!’ All those who were my friends [say] … ‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him’” (20:10).
But Jeremiah trusts that the Lord will make his persecutors stumble and put them to shame and confusion. Jeremiah calls upon the Lord to take vengeance on those who have persecuted him. Jeremiah hopes to witness the Lord’s justice. He exhorts his audience to offer songs of praise to the Lord for protecting the poor from the wicked.
The Responsorial (Psalm 69) is a plea for help: “Lord, in your great love, answer me.” The psalmist describes being insulted, put to shame, and becoming an outcast from his own family. These insults come from “those who blaspheme” God because “zeal for your house consumes me.” God’s house is the Temple, the center of Israelite worship.
In the second stanza, the psalmist says: “I pray to you, O Lord.” Twice, he calls out: “Answer me!” The psalmist praises God’s “great kindness,” his “constant help” and his “great mercy.”
The third stanza begins: “See, you lowly ones, and be glad.” The previous two stanzas were addressed to God, but this third stanza is instead addressed to the congregation. It calls upon “lowly ones” and “you who seek God.” The psalmist trusts that “the LORD hears the poor.” He calls on “you lowly ones” to have courage and “be glad.” They seek God, who will not abandon them even if they are “in bonds.” The psalmist trusts that God will act for justice.
Next, St. Paul writes to the church in Rome: “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.” Paul contrasts Adam versus Jesus Christ. Paul contrasts the gift of Christ versus the transgression of Adam. Sin/transgression produces death, but the gift of Christ produces life within us.
Paul says, “Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin.” The point is that Christ has begun a new age in which death is defeated by his crucifixion and resurrection. Indeed “the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ [now] overflow[s] for the many.” Jesus Christ has brought life to the many who call upon his name.
In today’s Gospel, “Jesus said to the Twelve: ‘Fear no one.’” As Jesus’ disciples, we should be fearless because we trust in God’s protection and providence. Jesus tells his disciples that not even one sparrow “falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” To receive this promise, we must acknowledge Jesus as Lord and acknowledge God the Father before everyone, even in opposition.
Jesus exhorts us: “do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Jesus’ disciples were facing persecution and martyrdom for following him. Jesus’ disciples are not to fear those who can do violence and even kill them. Whom should they fear? God alone. It is God “who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” This does not refer to the devil — it refers to God. Jesus’ disciples have no reason to fear the devil. Christ has triumphed over sin and death. He has destroyed evil itself. Christ tells us: “Fear no one!”