Wednesday of the Sixteenth
Week in Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah 1:1.4-10; Matthew 13:1-9)
The woman did not know what to say. Her granddaughter had just confessed that she
wanted to move in with her boyfriend.
Then the younger asked her grandmother whether she would disown her if
she did. Such a scene of conflicting
values is reminiscent of the era of the prophet Jeremiah featured in the first
reading today.
Jeremiah lives in the southern kingdom of Judah in the
seventh and sixth centuries before Christ.
The time of his calling as a prophet, which today’s reading reports, is
particularly corrupted. Manasseh, Judah’s
king, has allowed Assyrian idols to be placed in the Temple area. God is commissioning the young Jeremiah to
speak his truth to the people. It would
be a tough assignment for a seasoned prophet.
It is no wonder then that Jeremiah tries to shy away from the challenge.
Not only young people today live together outside
marriage. Elders as well, whether to
avoid the emotional or the legal entanglements of marriage, are opting for cohabitation. We certainly should not show approval for the
practice. In fact, we should express our
concern –with both prayerful care and prophetic integrity– that the couple is
offending our Creator.
