Thursday of the
Third Week of Lent
(Jeremiah 7:23-28; Luke 11:14-23)
In today’s first readings Jeremiah accuses the people of
Jerusalem of turning their backs on God.
They have not been faithful to the Covenant that they have made with the
Lord. The judgment could hardly be more
severe. According to Jeremiah, they no
longer even pretend to be faithful; they do not even say the word. The situation has not really improved by
Jesus’ time. He sees the same hardness
of heart shown toward God’s ways of justice and mercy. The people seem to refuse to accept Jesus as
God’s prophet in order to follow their own preferences.
The same offense may be found in our society although,
perhaps, magnified. Faithfulness to
one’s baptismal promises is now considered a betrayal of self. Of major importance are the values that one
chooses to recognize himself. Forget
about one’s culture, family background, even previous choices, one must do what
he thinks is necessary to do at the moment.
Faithfulness is an all-encompassing virtue. It acknowledges one’s readiness to live in
the ways that we have professed. But we
are not only faith to principles; we are also faithful to the people or the
person who has imparted those principles.
For us Christians this means faithfulness to the Lord Jesus. We promise to do as he commands because we
know that he will provide our deep and lasting happiness.
