Tuesday of the Eighteenth
Week in Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah 30:1-2.12-15.18-22; Matthew 15:1-2.10-14)
A lovely story is told about St. John Paul II’s visit to the
World Youth Day in Toronto. The youth
group at a local parish invited a young woman of the streets whom they knew to
accompany them to the beloved pope’s mass.
The woman, who really was a prostitute, decided to go along. There she was converted by the pope’s
graciousness. She said that he changed
her life as many men had said to her before that they loved her but that this
one meant it. The story mirrors the
prophecy of Jeremiah in today’s first reading.
The first half of the prophecy pictures Judah as a forlorn
wanton woman, all of whose lovers having forgotten her. In the second part, however, there is a
complete change of tenor. God promises
to turn the fate of the nation around. It
will become strong and happy, and noted especially for its leader. His integrity will be so great that he will
approach the majesty of the Most High without having to flinch. Of course, this is a vision of the Lord
Jesus.
Too often we see people ruining their lives by following frivolous
passions. Sex, drugs, alcohol can lead a
people from the road of righteousness down a path to perdition. Jeremiah’s vision today gives us at least a bit
of hope that such people are not necessarily lost. We can and should offer our support so that
they might return to the Lord.
