Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
(Jeremiah 7:23-28; Luke 11:14-23)
The Lord sounds exasperated as He pronounces His judgment of
the people in today’s reading from Jeremiah. Their faithfulness, he says, has disappeared;
they no longer even mention it.
Faithfulness goes beyond faith. As the word implies, it is fulness of faith. Faithfulness
is putting into practice what one believes.
In the gospel the people do not even believe in Jesus. Despite his cures and exorcisms, they keep
seeking further signs. Jesus does not concede
to their demands. Rather he refutes logically
their claim of his diabolicalness. If he
were in league with demons, he says, casting out demons would defeat his
purpose.
We have good reason to believe in Jesus. He not only teaches what is true, died to
justify our sins, but also answers our prayers.
Let’s be faithful to him as well by doing all that he commands.
