Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

A plea for mercy. A cry for pity. For strength.

In powerfully emotional words, the passage from Jeremiah tells the story of a people deeply wounded, even overwhelmed. It is clearly enough for the people to wonder if God has indeed abandoned them. They are pleading with God to remember the covenant of old. Such laments may seem far removed from us in our situations, whatever they may be. But are they really? They speak of the destruction of Jerusalem and all the people held dear. At every turn they see destruction. The absence of all they held dear.

Perhaps you and I have never felt such destruction or abandonment. Yet, we can look out in our world and see plenty of it. Think of the people of Syria, suffering under civil war for years now, and some news clips show few buildings standing, or at least burned out. Think of people in African countries (Sudan and others) who suffer a similar fate. The people of any land torn by war, no matter how long or how destructive, know that same level of destruction. And while we may live free from such a level of loss, there are certainly moments when we have felt abandoned and left alone. Suddenly, nothing we thought we knew was the same.

This passage ends with the people restating their loyalty to God. “Among the nations’ idols is there any that give rain? Is it not you alone, O Lord, our God, to whom we look?” The words of the psalm give voice to the emotion in this reading. Lord, deliver us.

A reading such as this stirs our emotions and in many ways is difficult to read. So are many news clips and accounts of situations in the world. In the face of such, the natural cry is the same as the responsorial refrain: “For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us!” We unite ourselves with many who are suffering in the world. We pray, “O Lord, deliver us.” Deliver us from all that will harm us.

Reflection by Fr. Peter Ullrich, OSB