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Jeremiah: 7: 23-28
Thus says the LORD:
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
The Word of the Lord.
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Yesterday, in our first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses spoke to Israel with such hope. He had led them safely through the desert for forty long years. Now, the Promised Land is in sight!
While Moses will not enter, the rest of God’s people will.
In some of his final words to them, Moses warns Israel to observe carefully the commandments of the Lord, and to, “teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
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Disobeying God’s commandments will only lead Israel to separation, unhappiness, and ultimately, death. It’s a lesson that every believer must learn.
But today the LORD declares, “My people did not obey… They have walked in hardness of heart… They have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.”
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This word “stiff necked” originally referred to an ox who was slow or unwilling to change direction.
The LORD declares that Israel has been stubborn like an ox, stuck in their sinful ways, despite all God has done for them.
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Am I afraid to change? Stuck in a sinful way?
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Lent is the appointed time to acknowledge any part of ourselves that is reluctant – or afraid – to change. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the LORD gives us the grace we need to be renewed.
As the Psalmist says, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
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Image credits: (1) Success Consciousness (2) The Jewish News of Northern California (3) Psychology Today