Man's Irredeemable State and God's Mercy

Reflection on Today's Readings, Tuesday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time Year II, 4th August, 2020
Texts: Jer. 30:1-2,12-15,18-22; Ps. 102:16-23,29; Matt. 15:1-2;10-14
The first reading speaks of irredeemable condition of the people of Israel. They got to that level because of their unfaithfulness to God. God left them to experience what life is without him. It is written thus: "Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous. There is none to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you. All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you". Life without God is life without hope; the people of Israel became hopeless. However, God is forever faithful: he sometimes leaves us to our own desires that we might learn and return to him. In our hopeless state, he enters and gives us hope, hope of a glorious future. In the case of the people of Israel, he said, "Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound, and its palace shall stand where it used to be". It is only the mercy of God that can save us from a state of hopelessness, an irredeemable condition.
We see Jesus Christ in today's gospel restoring the glory of the people. He said, "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up". To restore the former glory, the unwanted plant must be removed. The people no longer follow the law of God, but tradition of the elders; they emphasized the irrelevant and left out the most important. They had  made their tradition to obscure the law of God, focusing on what is not sinful while paying little or no attention to what made them sin. Hence, Jesus said, "Hear and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man". Tradition is good but it becomes unworthy when it obscures righteousness.

Lord Jesus, help us to up root every unwanted plant in our lives and so restore your glory in our lives.

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke