In our first reading, Jeremiah proclaims God’s eternal love and mercy for God’s people. “With an age-old love, I have loved you, and so I have kept my mercy toward you.” This is a powerful pronouncement! But it is not new!
This same God brought the whole of creation into existence. God chose Abraham to be the father of many nations. They would be God’s people, and God would be their God. God called Moses to bring his people out of slavery to a land rich in honey, a land where they could be a people dependent on God and be richly blessed.
But God’s people fell short of God’s instructions. They sought out and worshipped the gods of their neighbors. They also failed to take care of the most vulnerable in their society, the needs of the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners in their midst. They looked away from the God who saved and nurtured them. But, as stated in today’s reading, God proclaims, “I have loved you with an age-old love, and I will keep my mercy toward you.”
It seems they didn’t accept or understand God’s great love and mercy, which eventually prompted God’s incredible gift of his very own Son. The Transcendent became Immanent in the Son, who manifested through his person, preaching, and healing that the Reign of God was present among them.
After his years of ministry announcing the Reign of God, he gave himself up to death as the ultimate sign of God’s love. But Jesus would not leave us orphans. He remains in the Eucharist to feed us by Word and Sacrament. We are fed to go forth into our corner of the world and beyond to be the immanent presence of Jesus to those most in need of hope, friendship, love, and justice.
Let Us Pray:
God of all creation, throughout the history of salvation, you, despite the sins and failings of your Chosen People, continued to love them and show them mercy. Your love and mercy have no limit. Look on us today in a world torn apart by division, war, poverty, forced migration, and the destruction of our planet. Have mercy on us. Give us an abundance of your grace to seek to make our world what you intended it to be. Show us the way. Amen.
