Hope During Difficult Times

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Catholics are living in difficult times.  There are multiple, huge scandals that have come to light in recent weeks.  Now, even segments of the hierarchy seems to be pitted against each other.  It seems to be getting more heated and dire as each day passes.  It surely is not easy for the laity and faithful clergy to stand by and watch as all this unfolds.

This post is not intended to add to the enormous (and growing) mountain of commentary about the scandals; about who's in the wrong or in the right.  There has been plenty written and spoken about this, including a wonderful homily from my own pastor.  I do, however, want to provide just a simple and quick commentary on a passage of Scripture that I think can help us.

Horace Vernet, Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem (1844, close-up)
In the very first chapter of the book of the prophet Jeremiah, we read God's direction to the ancient prophet, and we should read it as the Lord speaking directly to us today.  We are told to "stand up," and we are told that we will "Be not crushed on their account," that is, the enemies of God's chosen people, even those who have been and are inside the Church.  The Lord promises that He is making us into a "fortified city."  Most poignant of all, we read, "They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 1:17-19).

This brief passage should help all of us to maintain hope during these difficult times.  The Lord did not perpetrate the evils that we find in the news these days.  No, sick people have perpetrated evil, using the name of the Lord for their sick purposes.  The Lord weeps at the travesty that has happened in our Church in recent decades.

Still, the Lord is more powerful than all of those enemies and tragedies.  The Lord always has brought great good out of even the most evil and perverse situations; and the Lord has always won the final victory through those who remain faithful to Him.  Think of the great prophets and leaders through whom the Lord has worked, such as Moses and Joshua and Isaiah.  Then, think of God-incarnate, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who was perfect and subject to torture, ridicule, and pain.  Yet, that torture, ridicule, and pain wrought our salvation!  This passage from the prophet Jeremiah gives me hope that God can and will, once again, bring beauty and goodness out of something that is grotesquely evil.  We all still can have hope during these difficult times.


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