Aug. 30, 2026
You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;
You were too strong for me, and You triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. (Jer 20:7)
“Doom despair and misery on me! Deep, dark depression, excessive misery!
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all…Doom despair and misery on me.” (HeeHaw)
A priest friend recently celebrated the anniversary of his ordination, and his parishioners presented him with a study Bible. Although it was designed for the reader to make notes and observations about the text, they invited people to use the margins to write messages of love, support, and gratitude for his priesthood. I couldn’t help but smile as I searched out the passage we hear this week from the Book of Jeremiah. I paged through to Jeremiah 20.7 and wrote “Happy Anniversary!”
My friend already knew that this passage has been important to me throughout the decades I have been a priest. I have shared before some of those darker moments when I have felt isolated or even abandoned by God, when the sacrifices seemed more than I had anticipated. Jeremiah gives voice to those feelings. Those expressions of a distorted reality were not the final outcome for the prophet or for us.
My faith in God keeps me grounded, especially when I find myself frustrated or losing faith in myself. More often than not, I have to remember it is not about me, but about the hope that endures when I let go and trust God. Jeremiah does not depress me; strangely enough, he makes me smile. There is something wonderfully human about the way he describes those moments when we want to feel sorry for ourselves.
When I am feeling that way, I can’t help but remember a parody of country music that was used for a running bit on the old television show, Hee-Haw. Week after week, a cast of misfits mugged for the camera and exaggerated their pain and suffering for comic effect. It wasn’t particularly funny when I watched it with family members but the memory captures those times in my own life when I realize I have to get over myself.
It is always difficult to find balance in our lives, especially when we take ourselves too seriously or maybe not seriously enough. When I am tempted to feel sorry for myself, I need to become more aware of the blessings that are actually present in my life. One of the greatest blessings of my life continues to be my priesthood and the privilege of serving God’s people, even when I fall short.
Peter must have felt pretty special last week when he was promised the Keys of the Kingdom. The problem this week is that in the moments that followed last week’s Gospel, he cannot fathom what Jesus is saying about the sacrifices that they all will endure. Before long, Jesus is calling him out with the harsh rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” I shudder when I think of those times when I too have taken something too far and in the wrong direction.
However, Peter is not abandoned by Jesus and neither are we, especially when life seems difficult and takes the better out of us. During these times, a different kind of song can lift our spirits and address the dryness that sometimes describes our faith and the shadows that bring us fear.
“My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God” captures our desire to be freed from our condition and to be replenished by God’s love. Psalm 63 is not only at the center of our readings this week but has inspired a hymn that speaks for us when we are reassured: “I will never be afraid, for I will not be abandoned. Even when the road grows long and weary, your love will rescue me.”
Life has its moments of despair and misery. There are times when we feel duped. Perhaps those are the times that we can take a moment and remember the truer soundtrack of our lives. Even when we may not feel like breaking into song, God is singing us back to where we belong.
Most of us can remember waking from a bad dream as a child, frightened by the darkness (and the silence!) and needing to know that we were not alone. Like the prophets, we cried out. God may have rescued us in the form of a mother or father, with a warm smile and a cool glass of water. We might even have been treated to a lullaby. That song is still ours.
When the darkness distorts what we see, when fear gets the better of us, when we feel abandoned or wonder whether God has forgotten us, God is still there. We are not alone. Don’t let anyone dupe you into thinking otherwise. God bless you.