Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Jer 7: 23-26; Luke 11: 14-23
Dc. Larry Brockman
Isn’t it frustrating? Whenever we look at History, we see the same mistakes made over and over again. Governments arise with power hungry tyrant leaders. They suppress the people, sometimes killing those who don’t agree with them. They cause war and suffering for Millions of people. Ultimately, they are defeated and some order is reestablished. But then the pattern starts all over again. If it’s not Nazis, it’s Communists; and If it’s not Communists, it’s Islamic Jihad. Mankind just doesn‘t seem to learn from our past mistakes. How frustrating!
The Israeli nation was like that as well. They had prophets for over a thousand years, prophets like Elijah and Elias and Isaiah and Ezekiel and Jeremiah, who foretold of the doom that was to befall them if they didn’t repent and change their ways. And yet, as Jeremiah tells us in the first reading, they didn’t listen to the prophets, and so, they suffered the humiliation of the exile.
It was no different in Jesus time. Here was a person who preached a new Gospel, or “The Good News”, a new way of living life to please God, a way to attain the kingdom of heaven that transcended the nit-picking laws of the Torah, all 651 of them. He even worked mighty miracles for them, like casting out demons. But, the leaders of the time didn’t want to listen to Jesus any more than they wanted to listen to the prophets. Jesus message was not a political solution to the troubles at the time; it was a spiritual message- how to get in touch with God’s will. But the leaders of Jesus time only wanted to hear of political salvation, salvation from the harsh Roman rule. They were not focused on spiritual salvation. So, they spoke harshly of Him, accusing him of casting out devils by Beelzebul, the prince of devils. They said and did anything, even the illogical, to discredit Him and get him out of the way.
All of this leads us to our own times. We, like our predecessors, are a stiff necked people as well. These cycles of secular destruction have continued even in our own day. There are modern day prophets prophesying secular doom. But the root problem is not really the budget deficit or the mess created by the health care bill or massive unemployment. The root problem is a lack of our attention to the Word of God and the Law that God has written in our hearts. That law demands that we love one another and seek first the Kingdom of God. Only when we become a nation and a world that puts God-centered values first, will the harmony that God intends for all of us be established.
So, are you listening to the Word of the Lord? Are you focused on a spiritual journey to the Kingdom of God; or are you part of the secular world that seeks only self-gratification. Remember this-, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”