First Reading: (Jeremiah 18:18–20)
“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah…
Let us strike him with the tongue…
Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 31)
Response: Save me, O Lord, in your merciful love.
Gospel of Matthew: (20:17–28)
Jesus foretells His Passion:
“The Son of Man will be delivered…
condemned to death…
mocked, scourged, and crucified,
and He will be raised on the third day.”
Jesus foretells His suffering and teaches that true greatness comes through humble service and self-giving love.
Reflection:
“The Just Suffer Many Trials, But the Lord Rescues Them.”
It is not easy to be good in this world especially when you see the wicked prosper-and it is even harder to remain good.
Many of us struggle with the painful question:
Why do bad things happen to good people?
You try to be kind.
You try to be honest.
You try to live faithfully.
Yet what do you sometimes receive in return?
Exploitation
Gossip
False accusations
Jealousy
Betrayal
Profiling etc
You are tempted to ask:
“Should I not pay them back?”
“Should I not show them that I too can be wicked?”
“Am I weak for not retaliating?”
But today’s readings answer clearly: No.
Jeremiah and Jesus: Innocent Sufferers
In the First Reading, Jeremiah is hated and plotted against- not for wrongdoing, but for speaking truth and even interceding for his persecutors.
In the Gospel, Jesus walks knowingly toward Jerusalem, fully aware He will be:
Mocked
Scourged
Crucified
What evil did He commit? None.
Yet both men suffer.
The Temptation to Retaliate
When pushed to the wall, even Christians may feel tempted to respond:
Word for word
Weapon for weapon
Evil for evil
But two wrongs never make a right.
As Mahatma Gandhi famously said:
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
When we repay evil with evil:
We contaminate ourselves.
We lose our innocence.
We weaken our prayer before God.
If we act like those we condemn, what makes us different?
The Christian Secret
The secret is not weakness.
It is chosen restraint.
Jeremiah did not retaliate.
Jesus did not retaliate.
Instead, they entrusted everything to God.
“Many are the trials of the just,
but from them all the Lord will rescue them.”
When we remain innocent:
God fights for us.
God vindicates us.
God hears our prayer.
But when we stain our hands with the same evil we cry against, we lose moral ground.
A Call for Today, friends
There is much wickedness in the world:
Reputations destroyed by gossip
Jobs lost through lies
Illness caused by negligence
Innocents suffering for others’ jealousy
Yet the call remains:
Be another Jeremiah.
Be another Jesus.
Walk away if necessary.
Accept being misunderstood.
Accept being called weak.
Not because we are powerless-
but because you trust the One who fights better battles.
Finally, we should not spoil our good case before God by becoming what we condemn.
Remain innocent.
Remain uncontaminated.
Entrust our cause to the Lord.
Victory belongs to God-and to those who endure in righteousness.
Amen.
God bless you 🙏
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