We’ve likely all heard that if you want to keep peace among a group of family and friends, you don’t talk about politics or religion.  That is, of course, because we have strongly held beliefs and feelings about both.  Politics affects how we live our lives and how much of our money goes to taxes.  Few people like taxes and we are often critical about the things we think our government should or shouldn’t be doing with our money.  Political parties and politicians represent our beliefs and express our values.  Sometimes they are our official values and sometimes they are our unspoken ones.  The unspoken ones are often the ones we defend most vigorously by stressing other attributes that are more acceptable with greater vehemence.

Religion can be even more difficult to discuss.  It concerns what we do more personally and what we expect others to do.  It has to do with how we judge ourselves to be good and others who are bad.  As we understand our religion, it shapes our behavior and perspective on what is good and bad.  Those of you who are as old as me remember the fervor that came with the Second Vatican Council.  We sometimes talk about the problem being that it could have been explained better but in reality much of the problem was the challenge to our concept of our religion and personal goodness.  There was a certain sense of our goodness as we trustingly relied on what father (or the bishop or the pope) said.  As long as we did what they said, we believed that we were good.  With Vatican II that surety and safety were removed.  Things weren’t so black and white; we had to take more responsibility for ourselves.

Every priest wants to do a good job and that is often gauged by how well people respond to what he says.  I appreciate hearing, “Nice homily, Father.” and “I really like what you said today.” and “What you said really spoke to me.”  Even the pope and bishops are susceptible to being appreciated and want to avoid upsetting people.  Some of you may recall the US bishops’ letter on the economy and on nuclear weapons.  I remember people’s angry reactions threatening to leave the church if we preach on what the bishops said.  We don’t get many letters like that.  The beliefs and challenges are still there, we just don’t talk about them so often.  Talking about abortion, which most people agree with, is a lot easier.

This gives hopefully some understanding to today’s readings.  Jeremiah is the prophet whose life we know most about of all the prophets.  We see the people’s negative reaction to despite our realization today that he indeed was a prophet speaking God’s word.  In today’s gospel we hear the people rejecting Jesus and trying to throw him off a cliff.  Why?  In Luke’s Gospel Jesus’ quote of the prophet Isaiah are the first words we hear coming from Jesus.  He speaks of good news for the poor, liberty to captives, sight for the blind, etc.  Simply in saying this is what he has been anointed or chosen to do incites the people to want to kill him.  Jesus was about change, especially religious change.  Those who were accustomed to considering themselves as religiously first were being told they would be last in the kingdom Jesus reveals.