When Jeremiah spoke the word of God, it wasn’t what people wanted to hear. Jason Quino McCreery, SJ, reflects on unwelcomed truths and that the message of God is not always what we expect. Based on the readings for Sunday, August 30, 2020.
Have you ever heard the word of God being spoken to you? Have you ever been afraid of it?
Hi, I’m Jason Quino McCreery, and this is my One-Minute Reflection.
The prophet Jeremiah, sometimes called the weeping prophet, was given the task of telling Jerusalem, God’s chosen people, that the city would be destroyed and the people taken into exile. Which did not make him popular among his peers. Jeremiah prophesized, spoke an unwelcome truth to the people of God, and they told him to stop, to just be quiet.
Sometimes, what God tells us isn’t pleasant. Peter was horrified when he heard that Jesus had to suffer and be killed. How do we respond to unwelcome truth?
I sometimes think that God’s message must always be respectful, be civil, be nice. But Jeremiah says, “violence and outrage is my message.” So when we hear the outrage of the disenfranchised, the anger of those suffering, are we willing to listen to their prophecy? When a black man cries out again, “I can’t breathe,” are we willing to recognize the voice of God?