Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah
1:1.4-10; Matthew 13:1-9)
Jeremiah in
the first reading today has reason to be fearful. The Lord has told Jeremiah that he will put
His righteous words on his lips. They
will console but also chastise. Not just
people who regularly do evil will resent Jeremiah for speaking God’s words. Pope Francis, echoing conventional wisdom,
has said that there is a bit of larceny in all of us. The regularly virtuous may not always welcome
them either.
Nevertheless,
the word of God can bring about wonders.
In his parable Jesus tells how the word coming to worthy listeners will have
abundant fruit. Everyday thousands of
volunteers around the country give themselves to feed the homeless and
poor. They do so because they have heard
the word of God tell of the feeding of the Israelites in the desert and Jesus
providing the multitude with bread.
We too may
find others resenting the word of God on our lips. We may have to remind those who engage in ridicule
that homosexuals are God’s children worthy of our respect. Or we may have to tell our children that cohabiting
offends God. Such statements will cause
us pain, but we do so out of love both for God and for those whom we address.
