CT - Jeremiah’s burden

Jeremiah’s burden

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Jeremiah 20:7-9

Jeremiah’s prophetic career was long but not happy. It was his calling to be God’s spokesman when the kingdom of Judah was headed for ruin, a ruin that was finally brought about by the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of most of the Israelite leaders in 587 B.C. He was, literally, the prophet of doom.

The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah contains five passages in which the prophet voices his hurt, frustration, disappointment with the mission he has received and with the God who is the source of the mission. These passages are called the "confessions" of Jeremiah. These are intimate, sometimes heartrending conversations or prayerful arguments with God in which Jeremiah addresses God with questions like: Why do the wicked prosper? Why do I suffer for delivering God’s word? Why are the threats I deliver not heeded? Why do my enemies continue to plot against me?

Our reading for this Sunday gives us a small portion from the beginning of the fifth of these confessions. (Just a few weeks ago, on the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we heard another selection from this same section of Jeremiah.)

Jeremiah says that he feels that he has been deceived by God, that God has forced him into an impossible situation. Nobody listens to him. He is a source of derision among the people. The only words he can say are words that speak of violence and destruction. He can’t even keep silence! When he tries not to proclaim God’s word, God’s message becomes like a burning fire within him, and he can’t hold it in.

Jeremiah seems to have expected that his message from God would at least win a hearing from God’s people. Instead of getting attention and response, all he gets is reproach and disdain. It seems that God has tricked him into a mission that he would not have chosen for himself, yet a mission that he is unable to walk away from. He finds no joy in his prophetic vocation, yet he cannot stop preaching. Jeremiah is face to face with the spiritual paradox that doing the will of a loving God can sometimes bring suffering.

Jeremiah wasn’t the only one who seemed to find God’s service disappointing. We all tend to expect that doing God’s will is going to bring us happiness and contentment here and now. And we learn that things don’t generally work that way.

Peter seems to have been of this same mind in this Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 16:21-27). Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to suffer and die at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders, but Peter will have none of it. "God forbid, Lord! No such thing will ever happen to you." Jesus turns on Peter and rejects that kind of thinking as human thinking, not God’s.

Jesus then goes on to tell all His disciples that following Him requires self-sacrifice even to the point of giving up one’s life. Serving the Lord is not a source of immediate fulfillment.

Why is that? Why is serving the Lord so often difficult? To some degree, at least, it’s because the Lord asks for so much from us. Our humanity has been weakened by sin. As a consequence, it is hard to do good. It requires effort and energy, sometimes more effort and energy than we think we have. It’s painful to work that hard at doing the right thing. It sometimes seems that God is asking more of us than we have to give, but actually what God is asking for is more than we think we are capable of. Moral and spiritual exertion is often painful.

Of course, it is not the case that God derives pleasure from the painfulness of our effort. It doesn’t make God happy to see us sweat and struggle as we try to carry out what He asks of us. God’s demands are a gift, a gift that elicits more from us than we tend to think we are capable of. God is like a loving father who makes demands on his children in order to make them grow and help them to develop. Providing only ease and comfort for them would be a disservice.

Nor is it the case that there is never any joy in serving the Lord. Once we become accustomed to the nature of the Lord’s demands and to His reason for asking so much of us, we begin to find joy even in effort.

Most of us don’t have to bear Jeremiah’s burdens. Most of us understand that Peter’s protest was ill conceived. But we still have to remind ourselves occasionally that the Lord’s love for us can be demanding to the point of pain.

For reflection and discussion

How have I suffered as a result of my calling from God?

How has my calling from God brought me joy?



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	*Overtures* Reflection on the first readings of the Sunday liturgy By Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk Jeremiah’s burden Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Jeremiah 20:7-9 Jeremiah’s prophetic career was long but not happy. It was his calling to be God’s spokesman when the kingdom of Judah was headed for ruin, a ruin that was finally brought about by the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of most of the Israelite leaders in 587 B.C. He was, literally, the prophet of doom. The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah contains five passages in which the prophet voices his hurt, frustration, disappointment with the mission he has received and with the God who is the source of the mission. These passages are called the "confessions" of Jeremiah. These are intimate, sometimes heartrending conversations or prayerful arguments with God in which Jeremiah addresses God with questions like: Why do the wicked prosper? Why do I suffer for delivering God’s word? Why are the threats I deliver not heeded? Why do my enemies continue to plot against me? Our reading for this Sunday gives us a small portion from the beginning of the fifth of these confessions. (Just a few weeks ago, on the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we heard another selection from this same section of Jeremiah.) Jeremiah says that he feels that he has been deceived by God, that God has forced him into an impossible situation. Nobody listens to him. He is a source of derision among the people. The only words he can say are words that speak of violence and destruction. He can’t even keep silence! When he tries not to proclaim God’s word, God’s message becomes like a burning fire within him, and he can’t hold it in. Jeremiah seems to have expected that his message from God would at least win a hearing from God’s people. Instead of getting attention and response, all he gets is reproach and disdain. It seems that God has tricked him into a mission that he would not have chosen for himself, yet a mission that he is unable to walk away from. He finds no joy in his prophetic vocation, yet he cannot stop preaching. Jeremiah is face to face with the spiritual paradox that doing the will of a loving God can sometimes bring suffering. Jeremiah wasn’t the only one who seemed to find God’s service disappointing. We all tend to expect that doing God’s will is going to bring us happiness and contentment here and now. And we learn that things don’t generally work that way. Peter seems to have been of this same mind in this Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 16:21-27). Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to suffer and die at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders, but Peter will have none of it. "God forbid, Lord! No such thing will ever happen to you." Jesus turns on Peter and rejects that kind of thinking as human thinking, not God’s. Jesus then goes on to tell all His disciples that following Him requires self-sacrifice even to the point of giving up one’s life. Serving the Lord is not a source of immediate fulfillment. Why is that? Why is serving the Lord so often difficult? To some degree, at least, it’s because the Lord asks for so much from us. Our humanity has been weakened by sin. As a consequence, it is hard to do good. It requires effort and energy, sometimes more effort and energy than we think we have. It’s painful to work that hard at doing the right thing. It sometimes seems that God is asking more of us than we have to give, but actually what God is asking for is more than we think we are capable of. Moral and spiritual exertion is often painful. Of course, it is not the case that God derives pleasure from the painfulness of our effort. It doesn’t make God happy to see us sweat and struggle as we try to carry out what He asks of us. God’s demands are a gift, a gift that elicits more from us than we tend to think we are capable of. God is like a loving father who makes demands on his children in order to make them grow and help them to develop. Providing only ease and comfort for them would be a disservice. Nor is it the case that there is never any joy in serving the Lord. Once we become accustomed to the nature of the Lord’s demands and to His reason for asking so much of us, we begin to find joy even in effort. Most of us don’t have to bear Jeremiah’s burdens. Most of us understand that Peter’s protest was ill conceived. But we still have to remind ourselves occasionally that the Lord’s love for us can be demanding to the point of pain. For reflection and discussion** How have I suffered as a result of my calling from God? How has my calling from God brought me joy?

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