2020-06-21 Homily


First Reading:    Jeremiah 20:10-13
Gospel:      Matthew 10:26-33

 

Jeremiah lived during one of the Bible's most terrifying times: the destruction of the Temple built by Solomon and the first destruction of Jerusalem.  This was followed by the beginning of the Babylonian exile.  As one of the key witnesses to the last years of the kingdom of Judah, Jeremiah is one of the major figures who grappled with the theological problems posed by the destruction of the nation.... In the course of his struggles to understand the tragic events of his lifetime, he tells the reader more about himself than any other prophet, including his anguish and empathy at the suffering of his people, his outrage at God for forcing him to speak such terrible words of judgment against his own nation. Yet through all of this, Jeremiah holds on to his firm belief that the people of Israel would return to their land and rebuild Jerusalem once the period of punishment was over.[1]

In addition to being the twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time, today is Fathers’ Day—Happy Fathers Day.  It is also National Indigenous Peoples' Day.  This National Indigenous Peoples' Day, unfortunately—or perhaps—fortunately, I see everything these days through the lens of current events on both sides of the border, namely:  the struggle for racial justice, the unwillingness to acknowledge systemic racism, and the sometimes violent resistance to change. 

Just like with Jeremiah's so-called friends in the first reading, those working for racial justice are encountering not only resistance but disbelief from people they thought were friends as well as defamation from those who have the power to promote justice.  In the New American Bible translation of the reading, Jeremiah calls for God to let him “witness the vengeance” but the Jewish Study Bible Jeremiah asks God to “see your retribution”.  I bring this up because there is a difference between these to words.  Retribution is seen as a form of punishment that is about justice.  Where as vengeance is more about revenge for a perceived or actual wrong.  I believe Jeremiah, like those fighting for racial equality, are asking for and want to see justice not revenge. 

I make this distinction because in the context of racial justice, the difference is important.  Indigenous and African peoples know the how the people in Jeremiah’s time must have felt.  They have experienced historical wrongs like the 1890 massacre of Lakota People at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and the massacres in the 1920s of African Americans in Rosewood, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma.   There are the current wrongs that have sparked world wide protests as well as the no-longer news worthy ongoing wrongs of the lack of potable water in Flint, Michigan and on over 100 Indian Reserves in Canada.  What people are asking in light of these wrongs is retribution, that is, justice. To put it another way, people don’t want revenge, rather they want wrongs to be righted so that we can be in right-relationship with each other.

I had an amusing thought when I read today’s gospel.  Cellphones have become an instrument of the gospel because as Jesus said, “Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed nor secret that will not be known.”  Cellphones are bringing what has  been done previously in darkness, into the light.  In today's Gospel, Jesus also says, “do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”  The pan-Indigenous People of Canada have a saying, “Our existence is Resistance.”  Although some souls have been damaged, the existence of Indigenous and African peoples in North America, attest to the reality that our souls have not been destroyed.  Whether Traditional or Christian or other religion, belief in a Divine Benefactor is strong among the people.  Whether Traditional or Christian or other religion, Christ-Consciousness is strong among the people.

In spite of it all, we want strong faith, like Jeremiah.  We want to feel that because the struggle for racial justice is being taken up by people from all walks of life in so many countries, God is rescuing “the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!”  We want to say with conviction God “is with [us], like a mighty champion: [our] persecutors … will not triumph.  But more than what we want or what we feel, no matter our race, ethnicity, gender or affectional affiliation, we must believe what Jesus says in today’s gospel, “do not fear” because we all have worth in God’s eyes.  Let’s treat each other accordingly. 
Please share your thoughts.


[1]Jewish publication society, Adele Berlin, and Marc Zvi Brettler. The Jewish Study Bible. 2004, p.967.

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