Jeremiah

Jeremiah was a bullfrog

Was a good friend of mine

I never understood a single word he said

But I helped him drink his wine

And he always had some mighty fine wine

Singin' joy to the world

All the boys and girls now

Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea

Joy to you and me

Many of us may recognize these two verses from the 1970 popular “Joy to the World” sung by the band Three Dog Night. This Jeremiah – the bullfrog – sings of joy. However, the prophet Jeremiah in today’s first reading speaks of great woes and sadness. No joy for him and those to whom he prophesized in very dangerous times.

Jeremiah lived through two sieges of Jerusalem. He saw the temple burned to the ground and destroyed, Jerusalem devastated, and his people marched off into exile in Babylonia.   He believed he had been sent by God to rebuke kings, criticize unworthy priests, and accuse his fellow Jews of infidelity to the covenant. He was scorned, held in contempt, and his hateful enemies wanted him dead. He spoke for God and told the people what they did not want to hear. In other words, he was a prophet.

Speaking for God, he was right in the faces of kings and priests – of leaders – by saying such things as: “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture. You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them. I will take care to punish your evil deeds. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing.” Wow, God was some annoyed! 

Jeremiah raises two questions for us. First, has our nation – the United States of America – ever scattered its sheep? Have our shepherds, our leaders, done evil deeds, and we followers follow along? Yes, and there are examples tied to faith and religion. For example, many of our nation’s past leaders and followers once believed in Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, that the United States was destined – by God – to expand our dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. 

This attitude drove 19th-century territorial expansion and forced removal of Native Americans from their homes. Motivated by gold and land, Congress with the support of President Andrew Jackson, passed the Indian Removal Act leading to the Trail of Tears – an extreme act of cruelty causing thousands of deaths of men, women, and children during their forced march from many eastern states to Oklahoma. One such group were the Cherokees joined by the Seminoles,  Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek, along with the Fox, Sauk and many others.

Another forced scattering was by sea: the Atlantic slave trade. During 400 years between 11 and 15 million Africans arrived in the Americas as slaves.  About 1 million were brought to North America. At least 2 million Africans died during their confinement across the Atlantic in crowded slave ships.

These are just two examples of evil deeds of shepherds from our past for which Jeremiah the prophet, speaking for God, would have lambasted us. Present day shepherds provide many examples of very bad behavior, and Jeremiah would have been just as critical. We all have our own opinions about the identities of those shepherds, religious and otherwise.

Now, the second Jeremiah-related question: Which leader should we always follow without reservation? Today’s responsorial psalm, the 23rd, identifies our true leader we must faithfully follow: The Lord our shepherd; there is nothing we shall want. He guides us in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though we walk in the dark valley we fear no evil; for you are at our side with your rod and your staff that give us courage. The Lord is our shepherd; there is nothing we shall want.

Many of us pray this psalm because we walk in dark valleys of guilt, depression, despair, sickness, oppression, hatred, or addiction.  If we are not the ones walking in those valleys, then it’s someone we know. They have no joy.  They have no Jeremiah bullfrogs as good friends, unless, of course, it is us.

Our second reading indicates why we should follow Jesus – why we should walk with him in our dark valleys. He gives us peace. As Paul said to us today in Ephesians: “Christ is our peace.  He established peace.  He came and preached peace to those far off and to those who are near.” We follow Christ when we say during Mass: “Peace be with you. Let us offer each other a sign of peace.” Beforehand, the priest or deacon says just before the Gospel: “The Lord be with you.” In other words, “Peace be with you.”

In our Gospel reading from Mark we heard about our Prince of Peace. Mark said, “When he disembarked from the boat and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” If today we listen carefully to his voice – to our good shepherd – we might hear him tell us this story and teach us as any good rabbi would:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves.  One is evil.  He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” 

He continued, “The other is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

We all have two wolves inside us. They are two shepherds – one good and one bad. Which wolf do we feed? Which shepherd do we follow? The choice is ours.  It’s a battle – a terrible fight – each of us always endures.

Which one will we let win? It’s an important decision as to whether we will be like those condemned by Jeremiah the prophet because they mislead and scatter, or will we be joyful with our friend Jeremiah the bullfrog, otherwise known as Jesus. 

Let’s choose the bullfrog with whom we sing joy to the world all the boys and girls now. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy to you and me.

Deacon David Pierce