Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah 30:1-2.12-15.18-22; Matthew 14:22-36)
Society yearns for a savior. Not only religious people but, on a gut level, the common person know that humans cannot achieve happiness alone. For this reason the movie “Avatar” has been such a raging success. The protagonist Jake Sully saves the inhabitants of the planet Pandora from profit-driven, ecologically-careless predators. But Jake is an erratic savior. As his surname implies, he is not perfect. After all, he has human origins and does not rise above promiscuous desire.
Of course, humanity already has a savior – a historic person who has not only conquered sin and death but has spirited us with his love. The world needs to turn to Jesus as Peter does in the gospel and not be over-charmed by fantastic imitations brandishing contemporary social values.
In the reading from Jeremiah today we hear again of the need for salvation. The prophet speaks on God’s behalf of the people’s egregious sins. They are completely incapable of repairing their fate. God, however, shows Himself as ever merciful. He will restore their peace and make them, once again, his people. We believe that God has fulfilled this prophecy in Jesus Christ. For this reason we devote ourselves to imitating his love.
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