Dear Brothers and Sisters,
God wants to help you today and has a word for each one of us. The Lord tells Jeremiah, and us, today that I formed you, I created you, I made you like a potter does with his clay. I know you, not just intellectually, but I know you personally. I dedicated you and set you apart for a divine mission, for something great. He is speaking to us. He knows us well and has a great mission for us in our family and in this parish. He gave St. John Bosco the mission to work with poor, troubled kids and 1,000’s of them became priests. From this parish will many priests and others will come to serve the Church.
Jeremiah was the major prophet during the fall of the kingdom of Judah. He preached during the reign of five kings, for more than forty years. He was forbidden to marry so that he could devote himself to this mission of being a prophet. When he looked at himself, he saw his weaknesses and thought he was not the man for this job. But when God calls someone, he does not make a mistake. We can know our weaknesses but to say my weaknesses prevent me from serving God is not true and a sign of pride. God always uses the weaker instruments, why? To show that it is not them doing the work, but it is Him. God does not save us or call us or use us because we are deserving, but only because he chose to do so.
What we are is God’s gift to us. What we do with his gifts is what we give back to God. Jeremiah was set apart for this mission while he was in the womb of his mother. You too were called before you were born and created for this purpose.
What was the mission of Jeremiah? The word prophet in Aramaic gives us a hint. It meant to announce, not to predict the future, but to announce the truth. To point out the false ways of the world, and to call people back to their right relationship with God. Some of the Bishops are saying to Governor Cuomo that his recent law to abort a child up to the last moments of a pregnancy is a grave sin. It is an abomination for a Catholic to pass a law like this. A Christian is called always to announce the truth, and especially Christians in public life.
This is what Christ did in the gospel. At first the people admired him. But then they turned against Christ when he reminded them of the miracles that God worked for the gentiles, and not for the Jews. This message of grace for the gentiles was too much for them. They did not think they needed God’s help since they were already his people. However, Jesus was saying that they also needed his help to be saved, to see their sin and to turn to him. People want to hear beautiful words but often they don’t want to hear the truth.
People today think about going to power conferences, wearing power ties and going to power meetings, but the real power is in the Word of God. As we heard last week, we need to see what is God saying to me tonight, and each week? What does he want me to do? We often judge people without thinking. The people from Nazareth did the same because they thought they knew Jesus’ parents. They were completely wrong. You and I often do the same. Before we make a decision, we ought to pray about it; speak to God about it, and to a friend or a priest. And realize that it is easy for me to judge incorrectly and to wait before we act. Take some time, especially for big decisions and speak to God about it.
It is a good time to think about the gifts that God has given us and to give back something to him. It could be some time or service or alms for those less fortunate. What did God tell us this weekend? What is he inviting your to do this week? It is a different way of thinking and one that can be very fruitful.