+ The saga continues today with the reluctant prophet Jeremiah. After
being preserved by God from death by drowning (as the young Jeremiah tries to
run away from his duty as God’s spokesman), the youth now becomes instrumental
in saving the inhabitants of the great city of Nineveh from sure doom and
destruction because of their evil intentions, deeds and behaviors.
Can’t you hear him crying out
as he walked through the city streets: “Only forty days more and Nineveh is
going to be destroyed.”
There must have been something
in the way he proclaimed it because the people almost at once “believed in God,
proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least: even
the king.”
They did many other things to
show their renunciation of evil behavior, and so the Lord relented and did not inflict on them the disaster which he had
threatened.
Jeremiah then fulfilled his
destiny, and the day was saved, lives were saved, a kingdom was preserved.
In the gospel passage we see
the familiar Mary / Martha episode: in which Jesus tells Martha that we the
Lord comes’a’callin’: it is better to spend as much time with him as he allows:
because his intimate visits can be few and far between.
And so just as the Ninevites
had their focus readjusted with the help of Jeremiah, Martha has hers done by
Jesus himself.
If our focus is a bit out of
kilter today, then take my word for it in this mass, in this homily, as it is
my duty to proclaim it to you and to help you set priorities straight, and have
Jesus as your inspiration, standard and assessment tool – and you will have a
very productive day!
I call you my friends, says
the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learned from my
Father! Latch onto it, and let it accompany you through your day!
Amen.
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