4th Sunday of Lent B - Homily 1

Homily 1 - 2006

The second Reading and the Gospel today are both wonderful readings, but I want to focus instead on today’s first Reading, dealing with the fate of Israel back in the early sixth century before Christ. A little historical background might help. Israel’s problem was that it lay on a highway – between Egypt in the South and Babylon and Persia to the North-east. It was in constant danger of invasion and conquest, because its control was important to the enormously greater powers on both of its borders. 

At the time of Jeremiah, mentioned in the first reading, Babylon (present day Iraq) cast its gaze towards Judea and Jerusalem, where Jeremiah was at work. Jerusalem’s king and cabinet turned to Egypt, hoping that Egypt would help them. Jeremiah told the king in Jerusalem not to rely on Egypt and not to resist Babylon either, but to rely on God. His option, not to resist, would have meant loss of some freedoms and a crippling burden of tribute. Trusting God doesn’t rule that out. The king did not listen to Jeremiah. He wasn’t interested in listening to any prophet, especially one who contradicted him. National security was his portfolio, and Egypt looked a safer ally.

Jeremiah got deeply involved in politics because to him every decision, every action, personal or political, reflected people’s sense of God and response to God. As things turned out, Babylon defeated Egypt, then turned on Jerusalem, destroyed it, and deported its leading citizens to Babylon, where their fate was enormously worse. In fact, it might well have meant the end for the Jewish nation, had not Cyrus, a Persian, about fifty years later, defeated Babylon and allowed the remnant of the Jews there in captivity to return to Jerusalem, reoccupy it and rebuild it. 

Well, wars still go on. For centuries, with warfare the way it was [armies fighting mainly armies, with limited collateral damage or civilian involvement], the Church developed a theory called the Just War Theory. It held that, under certain clear conditions, war might be justified. Of recent years, particularly during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, the Church has moved in the direction that, given the way that modern warfare has developed, the possibility of just wars has become questionable. You know, for example, how John Paul strongly argued against the legitimacy of the invasion of Iraq.

The second Vatican Council forty years ago, held back then from outright condemnation of war, but clearly condemned the use of nuclear weapons. Despite that, a number of powers have developed nuclear weapons: the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, Israel possibly, along with India and Pakistan. Iran is now seeking to join the club. Thank God Australia has no desire to develop a nuclear weapon, but it is implicated in the issue since it is a major world supplier of uranium. 

What might Jeremiah say to us today? For Jeremiah, God’s covenant with Israel was crucial. That covenant continues with us today. Every consecration of the wine at every Eucharist we celebrate reminds us that we are the inheritors of the new covenant. I think Jeremiah would say: "Keep your heads clear and your knowledge of principles unambiguous. Don’t do anything immoral, as individuals or as nations, even for economic or political advantage. Watch your alliances if they apply pressure on you to compromise morally - even if you are left militarily vulnerable."  

What is totally non-negotiable, whatever the cost, is : You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength. That does not leave much room to sell our souls, our consciences, our moral judgement, to any ideology, political persuasion or national interest. It translates into: Never do anything unjust, even for praiseworthy ends, because the end does not justify the means. The outcomes of such an attitude may mean suffering, misunderstanding, even ostracism as individuals, and God knows what for nations. But Jesus expected suffering to be the experience of anyone who chose his way in a world that doesn’t. That’s what trusting God is all about – not immediate consequences but eventual outcomes.