Jeremiah 14:17-22 / Matthew 13:36-43
We live in a troubled world. The "troubled world" is just a term to mean that there are many things that are sad and bad.
What is sad is that there are poverty, drought, famine and whole list of other things that make us shake our heads in sadness.
What is bad is that there are wars, innocent suffering and death, vices and immorality that make us wonder if there can ever be justice in the world.
And our troubled world can make us even question if there is a God and if there is, what is He doing about all this.
In the 1st reading, God sent the prophet Jeremiah to say these words: Tears flood my eyes night and day, unceasingly, since a crushing blow falls on the daughter of my people, a most grievous injury. If I go into the countryside, there lie men killed by the sword; if I go into the city, I see people sick with hunger; even prophets and priests plough the land; they are at their wit's end.
As much as Jeremiah was describing what the sadness and the tragedy around him, he was also expressing the sorrow of God over the tragedy of His people. But it was a tragedy that they brought to themselves for being unfaithful to God and rejected God.
But the people still believed in God as they cry out: O our God, you are our hope.
So in our troubled world with all that is sad and bad, let us continue to put our trust in God for He is our hope. Let us be faithful to God and live virtuous lives, for the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of God.