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Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time - Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Jeremiah 26:1–9
Today, Jeremiah stands in the temple of the Lord.
And there, in the holiest place of his people, he speaks a dangerous word.
Repent.
Change your ways.
Listen to the Lord.
If not, this temple will become like Shiloh.
Shiloh was once a sacred place.
There, the Ark of the Covenant had rested.
There, priests served.
There, the young Samuel heard the voice of the Lord for the first time.
But Shiloh was destroyed.
It remained in Israel’s memory as a warning:
a holy place can be lost.
A sanctuary can become empty.
Religious glory can disappear.
So Jeremiah says to Jerusalem:
Do not think that the temple will save you automatically.
Do not think that sacred walls can protect an unconverted heart.
Do not think that worship can replace justice, fidelity, and obedience to the commandments.
The reaction is immediate.
The priests, the prophets, and the people seize Jeremiah and say:
“You shall die!”
It is dangerous to challenge cherished beliefs.
It is dangerous to question established institutions.
But sometimes it is necessary.
Because the human heart can make an idol of anything.
Even holy things.
Even sacred places.
Even religious customs.
The Lord Himself commanded Moses to build the sanctuary.
The Lord established the priesthood, the sacrifices, and the liturgy.
The glory of the Lord filled the temple built by Solomon.
And yet, through Jeremiah, the same Lord says that all this can be brought to ruin.
Why?
Because the people kept the outward forms of religion, but forgot its heart.
They had sacrifices, but not justice.
They had the temple, but not conversion.
They had holy words, but not obedience.
This danger has not disappeared.
The Church also needs to hear Jeremiah.
We too can confuse external religiosity with true worship.
We can pray, adore, make promises, offer sacrifices, and still forget the love of God poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
Then religion becomes only lips, not life.
The Catechism reminds us:
all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love.
Jeremiah’s word is severe, but it is mercy.
He tears away illusion so that true worship may live again.
Faith.
Hope.
Love.
This is the heart of Christianity.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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