30 August 2026

30 August 2026 - 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Transcript

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Reading:  

Jeremiah 20:7

Write:  

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;
 you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.

Reflect:   

This is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible! It is also one of the most… troubling. The reason is that the word “duped” is… not the best translation. The Spanish actually has the better translation. More on that later.

But in order to understand it better, I think we need to look at more of Jeremiah’s writings. If we go back to the beginning of his book, we hear Jeremiah complaining that he is too young – that he does not know how to speak. But God encourages him, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” So, Jeremiah was sensing the presence of God early in his life. It cost him no end of heartache, and he wanted to run from what he understood of God’s presence. That is when we get to the crux of our reading this weekend. I know you just heard it read, but this part of Jeremiah is so important that I believe it deserves to be re-read. Here is the closing of our reading from Jeremiah today: “I say to myself, I will not mention him, / I will speak in his name no more. / But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, / imprisoned in my bones; / I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.”

Jeremiah can hardly contain the words that God is giving him – words of correction for the people of God. Then, the church in her wisdom gives us this Responsorial Psalm: “my soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God!” 

For people who have been touched by the flame of God’s love, there is no possibility of holding back from sharing that with others.

Sometimes we share it with joy and an openness to the powerful message of Jesus’ salvation. Sometimes we share it with trepidation because the message seems very harsh, and people need correction, whether they like it or not. Unfortunately Jeremiah experienced almost always this trepidation and fighting the people he was sent to speak to.

And this is where I need to tell you the better translation of the word at the beginning of my comments. The word “duped” is better translated as… “seduced.” And that is the word the Spanish translation uses this weekend. Yes, God seduced Jeremiah! Does that sound shocking? I believe this was all a radical movement in Jeremiah’s life, and is meant to be that radical for each one of us. It should come as no surprise that this is also the movement that God wants in our lives. He wants us responding out of an extreme love for him and for his people.

Our selection from Romans today echoes this same idea though not in as shocking of a way: “Do not conform yourselves to this age / but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, / that you may discern what is the will of God, / what is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Apply:   

The prophetic gift that Jeremiah had, focused on discerning the will of God. We are offered that same kind of gift – every one of us – simply because of our baptisms. Let me ask you: do you thirst for the living God? Have you felt God’s call? That’s a much more polite way than asking: have you felt God’s seduction? But they are the same thing!

Look, the second shortest sentence in the entire Bible is: “God is love”! I said at the start that this reading from Jeremiah contains my favorite verse, and it is, in my opinion, the most troubling of verses in the entire Bible. To say that God “seduces” us is, in many ways, telling us the tale of the entire revelation of God. Remember what I said last weekend about the Presence of the Eucharist. About how Jesus wants to be with us. How he goes with us every time we receive him, but sometimes he goes in shackles. Other times he goes willingly because we willingly accept him.

It is true that God respects our freedoms. But, look at the second line from our first reading: “you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.” What would happen if we were to yield ourselves into the control of God’s love? How would your life change?

This is why I said that this reading from Jeremiah is so… troubling. The closing of our reading today tells the story of a life wanting the presence of God, but recognizing that it is costly. The cost can be very large because seeking to follow God and to be his voice to the world around us is never easy. It cost Jeremiah… well… almost everything. Listen to his cry again: “I say to myself, I will not mention him, / I will speak in his name no more. / But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, / imprisoned in my bones; / I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.”

Accepting a prophetic mission from God can be costly to us. It may cost us friends, maybe a job, maybe even family members, maybe… even parishioners.

Now – I finally turn to the exhortation of Jesus in our gospel today. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world / and forfeit his life?  / Or what can one give in exchange for his life?  / For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, / and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”

Allow yourself to be seduced by the love of God. The result of knowing the love of God and living in that love has… unimaginable results! The benefits of knowing his love and feeling his presence here on this earth is a great blessing. But compared to what we will have in the repayment of heaven, it is like… trying to embrace fog. We may feel the moisture in the air as we stand in the fog, but it does not penetrate us. The love of God not only penetrates but permeates our very existence. We may try to embrace the fog – to embrace the love of God, but unless we allow him to embrace us – it is all an exercise in futility. But it doesn’t have to be.

Pray/Praise:   

Let us pray.

Lord our God, you have seduced us with your love. You have drawn us to yourself, and we listen in silence to the call of holiness you have given to all of humanity. But we know that not everyone understands that call. Help us to be your voice to the world that needs to hear the cry of love that you made by sending Jesus to us. St. Paul urged us to be a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to you. Help us to give ourselves completely into your hands, to abandon whatever would keep us from you, your holiness, and your love. Help us to yield, to abandon ourselves to your seduction. Amen.

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