(Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.)
God’s word through Jeremiah was that the people would go into exile. That, however, was not the final word. The final word was that God would one day call the people back home.
Jeremiah also addressed words to the Northern Kingdom, called Samaria and Mt Ephraim, That kingdom had ceased to exist many years before. Jeremiah, however, could see that God’s plan included these lost tribes.
God’s mercy would embrace both kingdoms of Israelites, both the one still in existence and the one that had disappeared years before. God could bring a dead kingdom back to life and a bring a dying kingdom through its national death to new life.
I hear many people bemoaning the sad situation of our nation. I have heard the words, “God bless America”, spoken as if in disgust, like a cuss word. While we can find fault with our nation, it is much truer that we can find fault with ourselves, and we have a greater need for each of us to repent of our sins.
The God preached by Jeremiah is a forgiving God. This God shows us favor in our deserts and appears to us even from afar. This God welcomes us home. This God delivers us from death and gives life. This God has an age-old love for us.