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Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 28:1–17
Today, we witness a conflict between two prophets:
Jeremiah and Hananiah.
Jeremiah stands with a wooden yoke on his neck.
It is a painful sign.
He tells the king of Judah and the people that Babylon will not disappear soon.
They must accept the yoke of Babylon and live.
Hananiah speaks differently.
He breaks Jeremiah’s wooden yoke in front of everyone and announces:
within two years, the power of Babylon will be broken.
The temple vessels will return.
The exiles will come home.
Peace is near.
Hope is near.
Freedom is near.
Both speak in the name of the Lord.
But both cannot be right.
We know now that Jeremiah was right.
But in that moment, Hananiah’s message was much easier to hear.
It was hopeful.
It was patriotic.
It sounded strong.
It gave the people what they wanted:
a future without repentance,
freedom without conversion,
peace without truth.
Jeremiah’s word was unbearable.
Accept the yoke.
Change your mind.
Read the signs.
Stop living in illusions.
This is why the hardest part of repentance is not always the sacrifice.
The hardest part is the change of mind.
It means admitting:
I was wrong.
The voice I rejected was right.
The warning I mocked was true.
King Zedekiah, the leaders, the priests, and the people were not ready for that.
Hananiah’s words were music to their ears.
Jeremiah could not compete with such music.
So he left.
This story is not only ancient.
We also live among many voices.
Some voices tell us that everything will be fine.
Technology will save us.
Artificial intelligence will solve our problems.
The economy will adjust.
The planet will recover.
War will remain under control.
Nothing serious needs to change.
But there are other voices, harder to hear.
Pope Francis, in Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum, has warned us that the earth, our common home, is wounded.
But powerful corporations continue to drill.
Nations continue to arm themselves.
Wars continue to poison land, air, and water.
And many still say:
It is not so bad.
Do not worry.
Jesus once criticized His generation because they could not discern the signs of the times.
Jeremiah’s generation failed in the same way.
The question is whether we have learned.
Hananiah was pleasant to hear.
Jeremiah was painful to hear.
But only one spoke the word that could save.
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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