20. Sunday in Ordinary time Year C Lk 12, 49-53

An old and wise saying goes: He’s not the one who likes everything… Despite being very old, it remains incredibly accurate. We have all experienced firsthand that some love us and others hate us, while some exalt us and others despise us.

This was also the case with the prophet Jeremiah, born in Anathoth, who was called as a prophet in about 627 BC. Some respected him highly, while others waited for his life. He held the prophetic office for about 40 years. The word of God drove him to warn the people of the political myopia of kings, to fight for pure religion and proper worship of the God of Yahweh, thereby constantly getting into disputes with politicians, priests, and also with my own family.

What we heard in today’s 1st reading happened at the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Jeremiah saw the futility of resistance and urged the inhabitants to surrender. However, the military leaders declared him a traitor and demanded the death penalty for him. The indecisive king agreed, so he had it thrown into a cistern that had no water, only smelly mud, into which it fit up to the neck. He knew very well what awaited him. He does not receive food or water, so his days are numbered. He can do nothing to save himself but wait in prayer for an early death.  

For 40 years, God’s word compelled him to say things that offended and filled people with anger. He spoke against politics, both priests and the temple, mentioning the new covenant and the new people who would worship God with their hearts and not according to the dead letter of the law. Since he said that resistance is useless and one must surrender to the Babylonians, politicians considered him a traitor, priests, whom he blamed for mistakes, as infidels and blasphemers, and the people to whom he did not give peace, as rioters and fools. 

And yet, Jeremiah spoke only the word of God, what God inspired him to speak. He often argued with himself, hesitant to express opinions that might displease others. However, in the end, he chose to obey, which ultimately led to the loss of his position, his place in the priestly family, honor, health, and freedom. And now that the end is so close, it would be good to beg for an early death to find peace finally. But he is faithful to God and asks for only one thing, so that God’s will is fulfilled in him, because God’s plan can be different from humans ‘ human. Therefore, he remains immersed in the mud and leaves everything else to the Lord.

Jeremiah was not wrong. God still needed him. Abdelmelech becomes God’s instrument and intercedes for it with the king. He orders him to be taken out of the cistern and set free. Shortly after that, Jerusalem lies in ashes, the inhabitants are taken captive, and the king is blinded. Jeremiah, though he might leave in peace, remains with the suffering and desperate people to comfort them. Only when he fulfills his earthly mission to the last dot does he die a martyr’s death when his enemies kidnap him and take him to Egypt.

Jeremiah is a model of faithfulness to God up to martyrdom. He was hated and humiliated because he refused to say what pleased the people, making him a type of Jesus Christ. He was thrown into a cistern, where he prayed to God that his will would be fulfilled, just as Jesus had done during the difficult hour in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying, “Father, not mine, but let your will be done!” Like Jesus, he was obedient to the point of death.

Each of us is like the prophet Jeremiah. For we too received God’s calling at holy baptism and became partakers of Christ’s priestly, teaching, and prophetic mission. Therefore, as prophets, we must bear witness to the Lord in words and deeds, even at the cost of a similar fate. People will not want to listen to us, we will be placed outside our own family or society, and we will also be hated because of Jesus’ name. Then comes the moment when we fall into the mud and see no way out of it. For some, it will be “night dark faith “, when everything will sink into the dark, and he will not be able to believe. For another, it will be a decision dictated by his conscience to stand against a particular thing or person. Then his friends leave him, and the enemies knock him into the mud. It will be a moment when we find that we are no longer helped, and our insides will be engulfed as if by a cancer that tells us that our days are numbered. What to do then? Indulge in despair or resignation? Certainly not!

Russian poet Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovski (1893-1930) was born in Baghdad, Georgia. After the death of the father, the family moved to Moscow, where revolutionary efforts were taking shape. Young Mayakovski joined them. Already at the age of 12, he became a Bolshevik. At 14, he was arrested for this, but released. At 15, he was arrested again for possession of a weapon and promotion. You served 11 months. After leaving prison, he wrote, recited, and gathered around him a group of so-called futurists. He also drew posters, as he was extremely artistically gifted. After the revolution, he embarked on a journey around the world, but this period was probably the biggest disappointment for him. The revolution fed him, and when it ended, he could only write love poems. In 1930, when he saw what had been achieved by the revolution, the atrocities that had been committed, he despaired and probably committed suicide, although it is still not clear whether he held the weapon. At the beginning of his career, he wrote: Comrades, I would like to pluck my soul from my body, develop it widely like a blood red flag and carry it before you. His last words before the end of his life were: Brothers, I deceived you. Christ lives!

The poet despaired, which was undoubtedly a big mistake. He saw no light at the end of the dark tunnel of his life. However, we know that it is never too late for hope. It is always worth surrendering to God and leaving him the initiative. He decides to do so, so that we can benefit from it, and he benefits from glory. God is faithful always and in everything and will not leave us even when we are stuck in the mire of sin.