(Twentieth Sunday of the Year (C): This homily was given on August 16, 1998 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Jeremiah 38.)

"Where is my 'point of compromise?'"

He was laughed at;
He was ridiculed and slandered;
He was betrayed by his friends;
He was attacked by people who professed to be religious;
He was thrown into prison;
He was exiled;
He was threatened with death;
And, as we heard in today's first reading, he was thrown into a muddy cistern and left to die.

But amazingly, in spite of all this (and much more), the prophet Jeremiah never "broke." Oh yes, he had his moments of discouragement and distress; but he never, ever compromised the truth that God had commissioned him to uphold.

Which brings us to consider our own lives: Do we have a "point of compromise" when it comes to our faith? And if so, where is it? When he was running for president in 1960, John Kennedy implied that "no Catholic prelate" would ever tell him how to act if he were elected. That was John Kennedy's "point of compromise:" that was the point, in other words, where he left his Catholic faith behind.

Where is my point of compromise?

For some people, the point of compromise comes when they suffer: they get angry at God and stop believing;

for others, it comes when they hang around with their friends who are into drinking and promiscuous behavior;

for some, it occurs when they go to work: they leave their Catholic moral principles behind and try to lie and cheat their way to the top;

for some, it comes when they meet up with someone who has hurt them deeply;

for some, it occurs when they turn on the TV or go to the movies: they allow their minds to be corrupted by all kinds of ungodly images.

There are many possible points of compromise. Where is mine? (That's the question for the day.) Praise God, Jeremiah the prophet didn't have one! My prayer today is that none of us will have one either.

Let me conclude now by sharing with you a timely meditation entitled, "The Fellowship of the Unashamed." If Jeremiah the prophet were alive today, these could easily be his words. May they find an echo this morning in our hearts:

I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning,
smooth knees, colorless dreams, chintzy living and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
Promotion, plaudits, or popularity.
I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer,
and labor by power.
My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow,
my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away,
turned back, diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice,
hesitate in the presence of adversity,
negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity,
or meander in the maze of mediocrity.