We who are sincere Catholic Christians may expect to have the occasional lousy day for living out our Faith and speaking Truth to people. Consider the prophet Jeremiah’s situation:
From the First Reading from the Mass on the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
Jeremiah 38:4;
In those days, the princes said to the king:
“Jeremiah ought to be put to death;
he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,
and all the people, by speaking such things to them;
he is not interested in the welfare of our people,
but in their ruin.”
All he was doing was living out the vocation placed before him by God, that is to prophesy (relate God’s will and message of admonishment; to speak on behalf of God). Granted, not an easy task, one reason why virtually every Old Testament Jewish prophet ran the other way when God called upon them.
Jeremiah was telling the people of their impending doom for having turned away from the worship of the one true God. They didn’t want to hear it. The people’s reaction is much the same as any person trapped in addiction who still thinks that drinking or drugging is the best way to solve their troubles. They may not want to put you to death but their attitude may be just as hostile. (Indifference to your concerns may appear to be just as cold as a a wish for death.)
The interesting thing that in both cases’, the Israelites and an untreated addict, the death sentence is on them, and not the messenger. Jeremiah survived. The Israelites were conquered. You will survive intervening for an alcoholic or addict friend, even if the intervention failed. Both the Israelites and the addict preferred their own gods.
Be a good Jeremiah to those in your life. Watch the video linked in the “Music Video” section in the sidebar for inspiration. If there’s a Jeremiah in your life telling you things that you don’t want to hear, consider listening. Chances are that if your drinking and drugging is serious enough, you’ve got a legion of Jeremiahs telling you things you don’t want to hear.
Get a clue.
For an explanation as to why you’re reading this on a post date of “Thursday” instead of the expected “Sunday”, read this post .
Edited by Paulcoholic at 9:45 PM, same day. (“Trapped in addiction” was “trapped in recovery”. Whoops.
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