Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in
Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah
31:1-7; Matthew 15:21-28)
When
finishing their annual Passover meal, Jews say together, “Next year in
Jerusalem.” Probably even Jews living in
Jerusalem express this hope! For Jews Jerusalem
is not so much a place as it is a social state.
It is shalom, peace,
well-being under God’s protection. It is
the kingdom of heaven.
Jeremiah’s
prophecy in the first reading promises that the Jews will return to their land
which certainly includes Jerusalem. Being
chastened for their sins in the desert, as the city of Babylon must have
appeared to them, they are ready to return to the Promised Land. The Lord will provide them a safe return. Christians take a broader view of the same prophecy. For them forgiveness of sin comes through immersion
into Christ’s death and resurrection in Baptism. It does not put them in Jerusalem so much as it
puts Jerusalem in them. The relocation
comes about by Christ imparting his Spirit so that each might live intimately with
him.
We
celebrate Christ’s forgiveness also in the Eucharist. It is a daily or weekly occasion to sense God’s
closeness to us. It is also nourishment
that we might love our neighbors in truth as God loves us.
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