20220720 THE TEARS OF A PROPHET
20 July, 2022, Wednesday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Jeremiah 1:1,4-10 © |
Go and say whatever I command you and do not fear
The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of a priestly family living at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying,
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’
I said, ‘Ah, Lord; look, I do not know how to speak: I am a child!’
But the Lord replied,
‘Do not say, “I am a child.”
Go now to those to whom I send you
and, say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to protect you –
it is the Lord who speaks!’
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me:
‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.
Look, today I am setting you
over nations and over kingdoms,
to tear up and to knock down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 70(71):1-6,15,17 © |
My lips will tell of your help.
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, free me:
pay heed to me and save me.
My lips will tell of your help.
Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked.
My lips will tell of your help.
It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My lips will tell of your help.
My lips will tell of your justice
and day by day of your help.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.
My lips will tell of your help.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:36,29 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your law.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 13:1-9 © |
A sower went out to sow
Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables.
He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
THE TEARS OF A PROPHET
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jeremiah 1:1.4-10; Psalm 71; Matthew 13:1-9]
Very few desire to be prophets. We all dread suffering, rejection, humiliation and persecution. Who wants to be unpopular in life? We want to be accepted, honoured and supported. Most of us are peacemakers. We do not want to fight or quarrel with people. More so for Asians, as we are not confrontational in the way we deal with opponents or competitors. We tend to be polite, apologetic, and even if disagreeable, we never say it openly. So being a prophet that speaks without mincing one’s words is not the way of Asian culture. Of course, there would be occasions when one is under intense pressure, only then perhaps, do we call a spade a spade.
Such a call would certainly mean rejection and suffering. True prophets do not prophesy for themselves or are concerned about their interests, position in the world or seek popularity. Their focus is to be true to their conscience, the Word of God and for His greater glory and the good of their people. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Today I am setting you over nations and over kingdoms, to tear up and to knock down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” False prophets make use of the people’s emotions and seek to please them so that they could remain in their good books. False prophets work for themselves and seek to keep their position in society, where they are honoured, liked and worshipped. Indeed, true prophets of God suffer for the truth and the greater good of the people.
Jeremiah was one of the most unpopular prophets because he preached doom for Judah. He spoke the hard truth, warning king Josiah not to resist the new power, Babylon. Judah was then a vassal nation to Assyria but with the arrival of the Babylonians, their power began to wane. As a consequence, Jeremiah was branded a traitor and a prophet of doom, because by his prophecy, he weakened the morale of the soldiers. He was persecuted by the religious leaders and was even thrown into a mud well to rot and die, if not for the fact that he was rescued by the king. Later, he was exiled together with some of his countrymen to Egypt. He led a most difficult life. We read of the tears of Jeremiah when the country was ravaged by the enemies in the book of Lamentation. “How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.” (Lam 1:1f)
Jesus in the gospel was also an unwelcomed prophet. Even His own people rejected Him. “They took offense at Him because He was one of them. Jesus said to them, “‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.” (Mk 6:3-6) St John also made a poignant remark, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” (Jn 1:10f) He too was eventually rejected by His own people and put to death. It brought Him tears for His people when He wept over Jerusalem. “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” (Lk 19:42-44)
This is the context of today’s parable of the Sower. Jesus wanted to prepare His apostles so that they would not think that their ministry will always bring about the conversion of hearts. There are many incalculable factors for the Word of God to be embraced and accepted.
We need to have good soil to supply nutrients to the seed so that the seed will germinate and grow into a plant. If the seed falls on unfertile and hard soil, it is difficult for the seeds to grow. However, what kind of soil we are is also the work of grace. Not all of us come from good families that would enable us to receive the Word of God. Some of us come from abusive families or families where God is not present or known. Some of us come from poor Catholic family upbringing or do not have the Catholic ambiance of friends to lead us to Jesus. Some never had an opportunity to go to church or to meet an evangelist to share with him about Jesus and the gospel. Some, because of our upbringing, are prejudiced against the gospel. We shut out the gospel because we have been conditioned into thinking the worst of the Christian Faith. Those in non-Christian countries or atheistic countries often are not exposed to the gospel. Some of these factors are not by choice but simply because of divine providence. If these factors are not present, then we will lack the opportunity to hear the Word of God or be led to encounter Him.
Of course, having the right ambiance is a prerequisite factor. There is also the cooperation of man. We can come from a Catholic School, a staunch Catholic family and yet not grow in our faith because we have taken our faith for granted. We have heard the Good News, but we do not take them seriously and hence the seed has fallen on the edge of the path. They are quickly taken away by the Evil One. Then there are those who are resisting the Word of God, or they have a shallow formation of the faith. They might respond immediately upon hearing the Word, but they lack perseverance. When the sun shines and the earth is scorched, when they face the trials of life, they give up easily as their faith is shallow. Some, like the seed that fell among thorns, are distracted by the world and especially by sufferings in life. They have many interests in life, are taken up by the mundane pursuit of life’s happiness that their hearts have no place for God or for the gospel. They are too busy and preoccupied with the world and have no time to meditate on the Word of God.
Then there are those who have the perfect conditions and the perfect response to the gospel. They meet good Catholic friends, they join the community and the faith-sharing groups, they encounter the sincere love of Christ in their community, they have good priests to be their model and guide, they go for formation and they pray deeply the Word of God. With the right fertile ground and the generous response, as the gospel says, they “produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
In other words, there will be failures and successes in the proclamation of the gospel. We should not be too worried about success so long as we do our work faithfully in union with God’s will. We should be concerned about fidelity to His calling and leaving success to Him. Success is in the Lord’s hands. He assures us of His divine protection and strength. “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you – it is the Lord who speaks!” Most of all, the Lord empowered Jeremiah. He “put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me: ‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.'” God is the one who speaks through the prophet who is available to Him. How effective we are in the ministry, as a teacher or a prophet is dependent on our docility and availability to the Lord to make use of us. Because Jeremiah and the other prophets were docile to His word, God used them powerfully to proclaim His message.
In the final analysis, true prophets do not choose to be prophets, it is a call. This is because true prophets have no desire to elevate themselves or be in the limelight. They are happy to be unknown because they do not need to seek popularity and fame. As the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Do not say, ‘I am a child.’ Go now to those to whom I send you and say whatever I command you.” Indeed, our task is to do what the Lord asks of us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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