Greetings in Christ!

In a world that constantly demands our allegiance to success, comfort, and public opinion, Christians are called to a radical reorientation. Today, I want to reflect on the beautiful necessity of making God our absolute all, allowing His grace to triumph over our worldly fears.

We often face moments where our faith feels vulnerable to critique or rejection. In the Book of Jeremiah, the prophet laments being surrounded by terror and mockery, with former friends waiting for his downfall:

"For I hear many whispering: 'Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!' All my close friends are watching for me to stumble... But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail" (Jeremiah 20:10, 11).

Living during the turbulent late 7th and early 6th centuries BC, Jeremiah was called by God as a young man during the reign of King Josiah. He witnessed the agonizing, final decades of the Kingdom of Judah, enduring the brutal Babylonian sieges and the eventual catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple in 586 BC.

Jeremiah was utterly isolated. Because his God-given message warned of political ruin and called for spiritual repentance, his own neighbors, priests, and kings branded him a traitor. He was beaten, thrown into a muddy cistern to starve, and watched his homeland burn. Yet, precisely because he had lost every worldly security, God became his total reality.

In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that the ultimate antidote to the isolation Jeremiah felt is our connection to God. He reminds us that the God who counts every hair on our head is the only one who holds our eternal destiny.

Let us look to Jeremiah's witness and Christ's promise this week. Let us evaluate where we truly place our security, boldly choosing to make God our all.

In Christ,

Fr. Michael Carlson

Pastor