Please read this passage before reading this homily.
Jesus spoke to his disciples that they would be handed over to their adversaries and handed over to torture and death. This was also the lot of the prophets. The people and the leaders plotted against Jeremiah to destroy him. To say that Jeremiah did not like this would be an understatement. He had stood up for them to defend them against God, and they repaid him by conspiring to kill him.
Today we stand before the Lord. Like Jeremiah, we have stood before the Lord to ask his blessing of those who have hurt us. This is our task, to stand before God on behalf of others. It is easy to ray for our family, our loved ones and our friends. It is another thing to intercede for those who do us wrong, who hurt us, or who do not like us. This, however, is what Jeremiah did, and that the Lord Jesus did.
Our task is to pray for all others. Do we pray for God’s blessings on Russia and Ukraine, on the Israelis as well as Hamas and the people of the Gaza Strip? Do we pray for both the Republican candidate for the presidency and for the Democrat incumbent? Do we want God to limit the blessings God has for everybody so that we can carry out our fury against people we do not like? When we do this, are we not setting ourselves against God, trying to control God, who is all-powerful and wise, with our pettiness and weak power?
Listen to what Jeremiah has to say, about how he stood before God to speak on their behalf and to turn God’s wrath from them. This likewise is the example of Christ. He gave himself away for us to call down God’s mercy on us. We are bound to do no less for others today.