Mark My Words

A Reflection on the First Reading for February 3rd, 2019: 
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 1

4 Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." 17 But you, gird up your loins; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you."

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I’ve seen the bones of my house. All flesh and sinew stripped from it. My mom-in-law gave it to us before she passed away. It’s more than 100 years old; she wasn’t the first to live here and we won’t be the last. The level of renovation it required was spectacular, in the true meaning of the word, a visually striking exhibition. Almost breathtaking in its scope. All revealed. Wires and pipes, seaweed and sawdust, flaws and finds. Now, I don’t know if this next part is odd, or if other folks do this too. Before the process of enfleshment was started and the bones were hidden once again, I wrote stuff on parts of my home. Hidden behind the ceiling of the attic and under the boards of the basement floor are words from the Word.  From top to bottom. In the two rooms where I tend to pray. Words I felt compelled to pray for our home and for our city. If you come over to visit, I can show you where they are, and tell you what they say. There’s something about the sound of God’s Word in my mouth that seems to bring out something in me where there was nothing before.

"There’s something about the sound of God’s Word in my mouth that seems to bring out something in me where there was nothing before."

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When I started to sit with today’s reading, what came rising to the surface first was awe. A prayer of astonished awe:

You entrust your Word to your people
Your Word that brought creation into being
You invite us to join you in the making

Fortified city. Iron pillar. Bronze wall. You make the carrier of Your Word an immovable object — a passive force. A set reality that cannot be knocked down or vaulted over.

Your Word, however, is a moving, shaping tool — an active force. You asked Jeremiah, “Is not my word like fire? And a hammer which shatters rock?” (23:29) A hammer shattering a rock and releasing the ore within. A fire burning away dross from the ore to leave the gold to exist free of the confines that hid it. Your Word itself reaches out and changes and shapes this world and these people still. Creation continues. 

We live in interesting times; we have for the last 2000 years. God let Jeremiah catch a sliver of a glimpse of what was coming. “After those days, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts” (Jer 31:33).  Since heaven rushed into the room where they waited and fire rested on them, He has placed His Word in His people. In the core of us. As the gospel is about to be read again, we join in a body prayer. We cross our minds, we cross our mouths, we cross our hearts, and we are blessed again by His Word enfleshed in us. All people who carry the Spirit of God, prophesy. He speaks to us. We speak His words into this world — marking it, like I marked my house. Laus tibi, Christe.

Noreen Smith

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