Ignatius of Loyola Jeremiah 26: 11-16; 24; Psalm 69; Matthew 14: 1-12 Again there is such connection between the two readings. The sentence of death meted out to Jeremiah is challenged and changed by the people, standing over against the priests and prophets. The death sentence is carried out on John the Baptist for his speaking out against Herod’s adultery. One of principles Ignatius works with in his Spiritual Exercises is the need to be interiorly free in making decisions. Jeremiah says to his captors: “I am in your hands. Do with me…” Whether he is killed or set free, he is already free because he speaks the word of God in truth. The Alleluia verse sums up: “Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice’s sake.” So many Jesuit martyrs. So many of the laity martyred through the centuries and all over the world. In Greek, martyres means witness. Examine your witness to the word of God. How do you witness? How far would you go and for what cause? When have you suffered persecution? Is it Thoreau or Robert Kennedy who says: If we haven’t found something we are willing to die for, we are not fit to live. Discuss that with Jesus.
Again, we ask for courage, for interior freedom, for holding our life lightly and committing it to your hands. We trust you to make justice roll like a river!