"...[A]s close as the loincloth clings to a man's loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord; to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty. But they did not listen," we read in today's first reading, Jeremiah 13: 1-11. That passage also speaks of the nation to which you and I belong. As a nation, as a country, as a city, as a family we are created to be God's people, God's renown, God's praise, God's beauty. Are we? The people of Israel and of Judah did not follow God's ways, did not cling to God but sought their security in other gods, idols, worshipped by other countries, other nations, other tribes, other kingdoms! They, in fact, rejected God as the only true God! Have you? Have I?
In the responsorial verse of today's liturgy, taken from Dt. 32: 18-19, 20, 21, God very clearly voices His anger, saying to the people of Israel and of Judah: "You have forgotten God who gave you birth." When God saw their unfaithfulness, the author of Deuteronomy says, "he was filled with loathing." Angered, God said: I will hide my face from them...and see what will then become of them. What a fickle race they are, sons [and daughters] with no loyalty in them!" Is God saying that of our nation, of the country to which you and I belong? Is God saying that of you and me?
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