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While most people who use the daily Lectionary scriptures for prayer do this on the designated day, I work a day ahead recording and uploading the Lectio Divina podcast and preparing homily for Mass and possible FFF reflection the day before the day… if you know what I mean.

The stuff of my life, the ups and downs of each day and week, is my primary raw material for my relationship with Jesus during the day. The scriptures often (not always) seem to link to my life – but I’ve discovered that often Jesus is just using the stuff of my life as the stuff of my relationship with and relating to Him.

I was expecting this to be the case today (yesterday…if you know what I mean) when the scriptures, both readings and the Psalm, seemed to shout at me.

Poor Jeremiah is have a real jeremiad. That’s a real word – you can look it up.

Yet even in the pit of his woes he doesn’t lose sight of divine life concluding his lamentation with the confident announcement: O our God, you are our hope.

And this continues in the challenging arena of the ups and downs of daily routines with demanding and difficult people, the weeds and the wheat growing together.

These scriptures give us a glimpse of mature relationship with God, not loving and relating to God because of what God has done and is doing for us, but desiring God simply because God is God.

Now that is real love.