Fr Peter Harris
his weekend’s readings are fully packed with thoughts for us to take away and, indeed, act on!! So I am just going to pick on one of them today and it is the first reading which is from the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah had quite a varied relationship with God, indeed at one point he told God that he had had enough and, frankly, told God to go and get stuffed, and yet, even as he spoke those words, he realised that he never wanted be separated from God.
On today’s extract we are deeply reassured by God’s words to Jeremiah at the beginning of their relationship: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” So deep and so intimate is our relationship with God that He knows our very essence, our very spirit, that which he formed out of the dust of the earth! But that knowledge by God brings responsibilities with it: “I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations”, God says, not only to Jeremiah but, of course, to each of us also.
And, as we let that thought sink in and reassure ourselves that God knows and loves us completely, the reading from Jeremiah, jolts us out of our feeling of security: “So, now brace yourself for action.”
I love that phrase; it is so immediate, also so encouraging since it presumes, quite rightly, that the good Lord has already given us everything that we need in order to accomplish his commands.
So, in a simple way this weekend, let us feel, together, these wonderful words from God addressed to each of us intimately.
Actually you can paraphrase them very simply:
I love you utterly
I know you completely
I have given you all you need
Now get on with it!!