Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah 26:1-9; Matthew 13:54-58)
The Egyptians placed on the throne of David, Jehoiakim, son
of Josiah. But where Josiah was a
reformer who tried to call his nation back to their covenant roots, Jehoiakim
was a tyrant who drove the people to heathen practices. He forced them to build magnificent palaces
for himself while paying tribute to the Pharoah. He also permitted the sacrifice of
children. Jeremiah, a true prophet,
could hardly allow this to happen without warning everyone of its bitter
consequences.
Today’s first reading represents the prophecy Jeremiah makes
against the ways of Jehoiakim. It
foretells the destruction of Jerusalem unless the people come back to the
Lord’s covenant. The prophet says that Judah’s
people should not think themselves safe because they have the Temple where God
is supposed to reside. Rather, he warns,
having the Temple will be of no more benefit than the Northern Kingdom’s shrine
at Shiloh protected it from devastation.
Typical of a prophet, Jeremiah makes Judah’s destruction
conditional upon its not returning to God.
He implies that if Juday changes its ways, it might be spared. People of western civilization today should take
heed. Unless it returns to the ways of
righteousness – not necessarily to biblical religion but at least to natural
law – western civilization may likewise be destroyed.
