+ Our first reading today is a hopeful account of
someone defending young Jeremiah the Prophet. A reluctant prophet in the first
place, Jeremiah always seemed to be at odds with the administrators of the land
– but at least this must mean that they were paying attention to what he had to
say! And his message was this: GOD IS NOT PLEASED WITH YOU, SO SHAPE UP! or
he will punish you severely. Once again they want to “kill the messenger” –
these are God’s words – not Jeremiah’s – but some one of them steps up to the
plate and speaks up for him and thus saves his life. A good day for the lad who
never wanted to be a prophet.
In the gospel passage, John,
the cousin of Jesus, never wanted to end up in prison, and of course was not
expecting such a gruesome death – but in his case he was very willing to do
whatever he could to further the cause of his relative and friend. And this he
did – because he loved God, and he loved and honored his Son, Jesus, his
companion and friend.
May we today play out the
roles God has marked out for us – willingly and cheerfully – no matter how they
will eventually end up. For if we trust God – it will all end up well, very
well indeed.
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