Jeremiah was born c.625BC into a priestly Jewish family, He was a shy man and unlikely prophetic material. He was given the tough job by God to preach dire warnings to a succession of Jewish Kings and their court officials. He warned that the gradual descent into a decadent & corrupt way of life in the royal court and even among the Temple officials would bring destruction to Jerusalem and the deportation of the citizens to Babylon, the capital of Mesopotamia (present day Iraq).

The self-satisfied elite had no ear for his persistent calls for moral reform and scoffed at the possibility of Babylonian forces overcoming Israeli soldiers. Jeremiah insisted that they were deceiving themselves. They would be better off to compromise with the Babylonians, otherwise they would be punished by God for their sinful conduct. Jeremiah was labelled traitorous but sadly he lived to see the inevitable fall of Jerusalem and the cream of Jewish youth slaughtered. And the women and children taken into exile.

Jeremiah himself went into exile in Egypt from where he wrote a letter (Chapter 29) to the deported Jewish population in Babylon. In it he urged them to accept their fate, settle down, marry and dedicate themselves to a truly domestic life. They were to pray for Babylon because its welfare would determine their own. There was no room for resentment. And eventually their exile would not last forever.

How remarkable this advice must have seemed to the more bellicose Jewish leadership. Jeremiah offers a broader view of humanity. His optimism would be complemented by the next great prophet, Ezekiel, who envisaged a more mobile God than the hemmed in vision of previous generations. This God of the nations would not be restricted to the land of Israel. God was to be found wherever the heart turned to him in love.

 The mention of love brings me back to the anguish in today’s reading from Jeremiah:

“You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced.”

Never has a prophet spoken such bold and daring language! Could we ever imagine ourselves using such language in our prayers? Even when we think God has not given us a fair deal?  Would we be prepared to admit that we let it happen? Don’t be too hard on yourself.  Jeremiah tried to escape his Tremendous Lover’s command. “I will forget the Lord and no longer speak his name” but the Lord’s message is a fire burning deep within him. He tries to hold it in but can no longer hold it back. That is the mystery of Divine Love and Love of the Divine.

 At our Baptism we each became a Christian. We were anointed by the Holy Spirit. We  became part of the Body of Christ, who was anointed Priest, Prophet and King.

  We are all, by God’s grace, Prophets of the Lord.   

 Joe Quigley