Reform

 The Spiritual Waiting Room

Reform

Contrite     Remorseful

Regretting     Surrendering     Resolving

A Change Of Heart

Repentance

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Jeremiah 26: 2 to 3, 13

The Lord said: Get up in the court of the Lord's house and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah who come to pray at the Temple: whatever I tell you, tell them, and keep nothing back. 

Maybe they will listen and reform, all of them leaving their evil deeds. Then I will abandon the evil that I was going to place on them because of their evil actions.

Now is the time to change your ways and your deeds. Listen to the teaching of the Lord your God, so that the Lord will have a change of heart about the evil he was planning against you.

(scripture adapted by John J. McNamara)

Reflection

Jeremiah is given quite the challenge in our reading. God is asking him to stand up in the Temple area and to really speak honestly to the people about their evil actions.

Imagine the scene. Jeremiah gets up and the people are all thinking "Who does he think he is! How dare he say that about me."

Jeremiah knows the situation. The people have been trying to form alliances with other countries. Instead of following the ways of God, they have been following their own paths. They have been ignoring the widows and the orphans. They have been neglecting the poor---just thinking about themselves.

Jeremiah also knows that the people will not be receptive to the message from God. They have turned away from God and they will turn on Jeremiah when he reminds them about this.

An impossible situation! 

God reminds Jeremiah that there is always a possibility for reform. In our human estimation we are always judging when people are going to be "ready". Do we really know?

People can surprise us. I remember the very first class I taught. The students were very bright and also outgoing. However, there was one student who was very quiet and never said a word the whole semester. It seemed to me that she really didn't fit into the group.

At the end of the semester I assigned a paper for the students to write about all the writers we had been studying. The paper that this young lady handed in was amazing. It was far and away the best paper in the class. 

She showed a tremendous grasp of all the material we had been studying. Did I feel foolish! I found out that I was the one who needed to reform!

Lent is a great opportunity each year for us to "change our hearts". The evil that is mentioned in the reading is the evil that comes when we refuse to change our hearts and continue to make judgments about others and to exclude others.

We think we are better than them and do not reach out to them with compassion and sensitivity. The people in Jeremiah's day forgot about those in need. In so many ways times have not changed.

We can blame the poor and look down upon them. God points us in another direction and encourages us to avoid evil and to help our sisters and brothers.

This Lent God says: Reform and embrace everyone in Love!

1. How would you feel in Jeremiah's situation?

2. Why is it so hard for us to judge another person?

3. Is it really possible for people to reform?

4. What is the "change of heart" that you need this Lent? 

Cistern

 The Spiritual Waiting Room

Cistern

Deep      Black

Lowering     Dropping     Submerging

Sink Into The Mire

Dungeon

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:  Jeremiah 38: 4 to 6

The princes came and said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is undermining the resolve of the soldiers in this city and of all the people by what he is saying; he is not seeking what is good for our people but what will harm them. " King Zedekiah replied: "He is yours," for the king could not deal with them. So they went and took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah, in the court of the guard, letting him down by a rope. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

(scripture adapted by John J. McNamara)

Reflection

Our scripture from the Book of Jeremiah shows us the difficulty of being a prophet. When you are faithful to the Word of God, you are going to upset some people.

The princes who came to King Zedekiah were very upset with Jeremiah because he was sharing the message he had received from God. He was telling the people that the Babylonians were going to conquer Jerusalem because the leaders and the people were not being faithful to God.

Jeremiah was encouraging the people to surrender so that they would survive. The princes wanted to fight. Naturally they were upset with Jeremiah. They felt he was taking away the desire of the soldiers and the people to fight against the Babylonians.

Looking at this situation, you can understand why the princes were upset! No one wants to hear that they are going to lose the battle! 

We can also understand it from Jeremiah's point of view. God had spoken to him and he wanted to be faithful to the mission God had given him.

We can relate. Sometimes we have to give difficult news to the people we love. There are situations when we have to challenge them.

Think of parents who have to confront their children about a drug or alcohol problem.

A boss at work who has to deliver a tough evaluation to an employee. A doctor who has to talk with a patient about a difficult diagnosis.

Not easy to deliver news that someone does not want to hear. Jeremiah knew in his heart that he had to follow what God was telling him.

The consequences were harsh. Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern at the home of one of the princes. Cisterns were used as prisons in the time of Jeremiah. Frequently the person who was thrown into the cistern was mired in the mud. 

The good news is that King Zedekiah intervened when Ebed-melech came to him and Jeremiah was rescued. He was faithful to God's word and God helped him.

We all have times of challenge. Many of us have been in those cisterns. We trust that God will guide us in those difficult times and show us the way.

God has promised that we will never be alone. Even in the mud!

1. How do you try to deliver difficult news?

2. Have you ever been in a "cistern"?

3. In our Lenten journey how can we gaze up at the sky when we are stuck in our "cisterns"?   

Valentine's Day

The Spiritual Waiting Room

                                                        (photo by Kathy McNamara)

Sixteen years ago I was teaching a Religious Education class and one of my six year old students asked me a question that touched my soul: "Mr. McNamara, how can I show God that I love Him?" It was one of those moments that you take the question home with you and let it sink in. This was the result of that immersion:

How Can I Show God That I Love Him?

He has touched my soul

With His grace.

It overflows.

My six year old heart

Knows the wonders

And the mysteries of His Love.

What can I give back

To a God who has

Given so much to me?

Everything I do and try

To do seems so small

When I think about what He has given.

My faithfulness can touch

Other hearts and fill

Other minds with that mystery.

My little way can make

Him known and make

His voice echo once again.

I cannot doubt my goodness

Because it is not really 

Mine but His.

My heart overflows with

Gladness and gratitude.

I am loved fully.

 

Announcement

 The Spiritual Waiting Room

Announcement

Good     News

Proclaiming     Shouting     Singing

"Your God Is King"

GOSPEL

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Isaiah 52: 7 to 10

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one sharing good news! Announcing peace, carrying good news, announcing salvation, saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" 

Pay attention! Your guards raise a cry, together they shout for joy! For they see clearly before their eyes that the Lord is returning to Zion. Raise your voices in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord will bring comfort to His people and redemption to Jerusalem. 

The Lord has shown His holy arm in the sight of all the nations. All the peoples of the earth can see the salvation of our God.

(scripture adapted by John J. McNamara)

Reflection

Isaiah speaks of our call to bring the good news to all. In his day the prophets would walk from place to place (as Jesus did) and share the good news with those in the villages and even in the out of the way places. 

Isaiah speaks of their feet being beautiful (and also very tired!). Imagine the reactions that they would get! I can just hear people saying, "Who do you think you are?"

Nothing stops you, however, when you have Good News! You are bringing peace! You are letting everyone know that God is King. God is in charge.

Even those guarding the towns shout for joy. They realize that this Good News is a sign that the Lord is now present in our midst. God is not holding back. His Love is total and he wants to share it with us right now!

We have a God who wants to comfort us. He knows the pain we feel and the difficulties that we encounter and He wants to lighten our burdens and console us.

God wants to bring salvation to all of us. I love how Isaiah always uses the adjective "all". God includes everyone in the Good News that He wants to share.

Our picture this week shows Pope Francis announcing Good News. It is a call that we all have. We have been given a gift: Good News! 

Time to share it!

1. What is the Good News you have been given?

2. Why does Isaiah speak of bringing salvation to all?

3. How do you try to share the Good News?