Homily for Tuesday, Week 17 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 17 of Ordinary Time

July 28, 2026
Jer 14: 17-22
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Jeremiah lamenting the ruin
of Jerusalem (Rembrandt)

“Let my eyes stream with tears … over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people” (Jer 14:17).

If we pray the Liturgy of the Hours, Jeremiah’s lament sounds familiar.  It comes up at Morning Prayer every Friday of Week III.

The prophet mourns the devastation of Judah and the impending doom of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian army.  He calls upon God for relief in the name of the Lord’s own glory and the covenant God made with Israel, even as he admits Israel’s sins.

In our time, we lament so many ills that befall not only our own nation but the whole world.  We lament gross sins of war and terrorism against nations; against human nature and human dignity; against God’s creation and social justice.  We lament such as earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural disasters.

So we pray to the one who can save:  “Is it not you alone, O Lord, our God, to whom we look?” (14:22).  We can’t fix the ruins of Venezuela, Haiti’s violent chaos, or wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Africa.  But we can affirm our own commitment to the covenant we’ve made with the Lord our God, to follow Jesus faithfully in prayer and our relationships with one another.  We can be people of peace and constructors of fraternity here.