Today's Thoughts...

Today’s Thoughts: Today’s reading from the Book of Jeremiah could have been written for us today. It is so easy to really like this prophet; his writing so often reveals his heart. Jeremiah is said to be a type and model of Jesus Christ. The reading guide section of the Catholic Study Bible points out the many ways his life runs parallel to the life of Jesus.
 
While it appears, Jeremiah is lamenting to the Lord for relief from a long draught, he also mentions their pitiful conditions from war. Jeremiah speaks of “her incurable wound” (Jer. 14:17) and later he writes, “We wait for peace, to no avail; for a time of healing, but terror comes instead. (Jer. 14:19) Our incurable wound is our human condition. We all move to levels of autonomy and independence from our God; eventually to find ourselves lost, running back in need of a Savior. The stories throughout the history of humankind depict this forward and backward movement towards and away from God. Where are we at today? Our world isn’t any different today. We suffer from the long-lasting effects of natural disasters; many people suffering because of droughts, fires, floods as well as the human-made disasters of war, terrorism and mass shootings. O Lord, we are suffering. So, Jeremiah, our prophet is interceding for us today.
 
We often listen to false prophets and think we won’t suffer from following false gods. We keep discovering that we need God as much today, as the people did 600 years before the birth of Christ. Today, Jeremiah is doing the work of trying to bring us back to the Lord. He like Pope Francis, calls us to feed the hungry, care for the sick, hold up the downtrodden…we have many opportunities to reach out to people today.
 
In the Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus interprets the planting story for his disciples telling them that the Son of Man plants good seeds. His field is the world, the good seed represents the children of the Kingdom and the weeds are the children of the Evil One, which are sown by our enemy the devil. Some people don’t want to believe that the fires of hell exist, but Jesus says “the Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth…Whoever has ears ought to hear.” (Matthew 13: 41-43)
 
Let us always remember the seed is the Word of God and Jesus is the sower; all who come to him will live forever!
 
Have a great Tuesday everyone.