Jer 38:4-6, 8-10
In those days, the princes said to the king:
“Jeremiah ought to be put to death;
he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,
and all the people, by speaking such things to them;
he is not interested in the welfare of our people,
but in their ruin.”
King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your power”;
for the king could do nothing with them.
And so they took Jeremiah
and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,
which was in the quarters of the guard,
letting him down with ropes.
There was no water in the cistern, only mud,
and Jeremiah sank into the mud.
Ebed-melech, a court official,
went there from the palace and said to him:
“My lord king,
these men have been at fault
in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,
casting him into the cistern.
He will die of famine on the spot,
for there is no more food in the city.”
Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite
to take three men along with him,
and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before
he should die.
Meditatio/Reflection:
The princes sought to kill Jeremiah, the king could do nothing to prevent them, and yet a Cushite ended up defending Jeremiah. What a horror to be so demonized by one's own! I have a hard time when I have to endure even the slightest offense. But to bare the claim that I am no interested in the welfare of others, only their ruin; to have my motives questioned to the point that I am rejected outright; that I would have a hard time dealing with. And then to have those who should defend me cower in fear? Well, now...that's Christ-like. What did Christ endure in the Garden of Gesthemene? What else than this complete rejection, this complete and utter lack of understanding, and this desire for his death that Jeremiah faces here?
Jeremiah sought to remind the people of their covenant with God and that yes, it binds them to certain modes of thought, word, and deed. When he warned that not following these laws would lead to their downfall, he is accused of wanting the people's ruin. How quick we are to jump to the conclusion that if someone is trying to correct us in one way or another that they must hate us? Especially in our modern society, we have completely lost the ability to be disciplined, to be corrected. Granted, the Israelites of Jeremiah's time didn't do much better, but how much more would I long to be in the place of Jeremiah and Jesus, even in the case of them being rejected and sent to their deaths, than to be caught among those who were so hard-hearted as to be closed to correction.
Oratio/Thanksgiving:
Lord, thank you for the opportunities I have each day to see your law, to see your will, and to recognize where I have fallen short of both. Thank you for the example of your fatherhood in gently guiding me as I seek to be a better father to my own children in gently guiding them.
Oratio/Prayer Intentions:
Lord, help me to be open to correction, from you and from those who have my good as their goal.
Mr. Crane's Song of the Day:
Matt Maher: You Were on the Cross
Saint Quote of the Day:
"To be pleased at correction and reproofs shows that one loves the virtues which are contrary to those faults which he is corrected and reproved. And, therefore, it is a great sign of advancement in perfection."
- St. Francis de Sales
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