They turned their backs

“They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets. Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.” (JER 7: 24-26)

How difficult it is for us when we are ignored–by our children, who don’t like to listen to us and accept our advice (especially teenagers), or by our colleagues or loved ones. God has “sent untiringly all His servants the prophets,” and “they [the people] have not obeyed nor paid heed” and instead “turned their backs,” but He is never tired or resentful. He loves, He understands, and He never gives up on us: He is “gracious and merciful.”  

“Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, for I am gracious and merciful.” (Gospel Acclamation)