Sometimes, we have to go back three thousand years to see how far we’ve fallen. Consider this passage from Jeremiah 7:23-28, part of Today’s Reading. It begins with God’s instruction:
“Thus says the LORD: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.”
Jeremiah speaks to us. He explains how they ignored God and His messages.
“But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.”
God sent His messengers. How were they received? Jeremiah speaks to us. He tells us what those who worship idols do.
“Yet they have not obeyed Me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers. When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you.”
Why did He waste time warning those whom He knew would refuse to obey? He may have wanted the stubborn and vain to be the ones who would send their own souls to eternal suffering. He provided prophets, and even His Son, so that not one of them could say “I didn’t know. You didn’t tell me.” Today, He provides His Church and priests to make Jeremiah’s eternal message clear:
“Say to them: This is the nation that does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction.” They clearly identify themselves as choosing to be among the vain and arrogant.
And, then we come to this passage. It is God’s message to you and me, to our families, friends and neighbors today. It was spoken 3,000 years before the term “politically correct” was invented. Jeremiah speaks to us. We see the truth of God’s Words in every nearby university:
“Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.”
