The readings for today, the first from Jeremiah, and the gospel from Matthew, stand in contrast to one another. The first offers a warning we must heed; the second lets us know that it only takes a little faith to get going in the right direction.
After I got past the image of the loincloth, since in modern-day societies the loincloth is no longer representative of normative clothing, it was easy to see what was being gotten at. The Jeremiah passage creates the image of a rotted garment. Certainly not good for wearing—for serving the purpose for which it was made. Perhaps a better image for us in our times might be your best tight-fitting pair of blue jeans. Think of what would happen if you buried them for a year and then dug them up to wear.
By analogy, the word of the Lord to Jeremiah compares the wickedness of the people to the rotted garment. They walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, following strange gods. Their actions take place in spite of the closeness of God to them: God had made the people to cling as close to him as garments that cling to the body. Contrariwise the people had become as a rotted garment in terms of their relationship with God.
It is part of the great reconciling and healing message of the Gospel of Christ that we now have access to the kingdom despite the separation that existed between God and humanity. God’s gift of faith makes everything right, which was broken in our original relationship, and it starts out with the mystery of a small amount of faith planted in our hearts. Thank God for the gift of faith!
However, I think it’s reasonable for us to continually take the Jeremiah message as a warning, while continuing to rejoice in the gift of salvation that we hold. We cannot allow anything to rot our relationship. Certainly, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit characterizes a relationship even closer that the clothing that clings to our bodies. Yet if we were to become careless, that relationship would, without any doubt, deteriorate and disappear entirely.
The threat, the danger, is real enough in our times. However, it may be that what stands to hurt our relationship with God is not as clearly identifiable as we might suppose. It may be that there is a danger more subtle than the heterodox teachings and practices that the more popular Catholic blogs decry.
Surely, as in the ancient times, we can become tempted by pride—it's one of the main things that we're warned against. I think of it as the temptation that leads to self-righteousness. It’s the arrogance we find common among people who find the need to assert the orthodoxy of their beliefs and opinions over others at the cost of any relationship or reconciliation. Stubbornness goes along with it. One can become stubborn to the point of spiritual deafness, yet faith comes by hearing. Our relationship comes by hearing, as all relationships come through a willingness and ability to listen.
Finally, if we’re not careful, there’s the danger of following strange or false gods. It is never so plain and in the open that following false gods simply means making a conscious choice to go with some false doctrine. Even the worst of dissenters doesn’t get trapped that way. Rather, following a false god comes from not knowing the true God. It’s the result of a lost relationship—the rotted garment that was allowed to decay.
It’s easy to spot false gods when you understand that the real God is love. It’s also true that love has to do how we live. If we’re following God, we’re living in a good relationship with the world around us—we’re promoting peace, reconciliation, understanding, healing, and we're standing in solidarity with those among us who have the greatest needs. We can hear the cry of the poor, the outcast, and all who suffer. Another way of saying this is that if we’re living love, we’re following a path that exemplifies love rather than judgment. We stand ready to share the faith and relationship that bear the sign of reconciliation.
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