Prophet Jeremiah

No fixed feast day in the calendar

Prophet Jeremiah: the back of the card, with its short story, lesson and a QR code that opens it in the Catholic Information app. The full text is below.

Flip the card and scan the QR code on the back to open it in the app

Jeremiah, the prophet God called when he was young, who announced a new covenant.

Who is he?

Jeremiah is one of the great prophets of the Old Testament. He lived in Jerusalem in the last years before the city was destroyed by the Babylonian army. He is often called “the weeping prophet”, because he wept so much for his people.

Life story

When God called him, he answered fearfully: “Ah, Lord GOD! I do not know how to speak. I am too young!” (Jer 1:6). But God told him not to be afraid, “for I am with you to deliver you” (Jer 1:8). Then God reached out his hand, touched his mouth and put his words in his mouth (cf. Jer 1:9).

God showed him a branch of an almond tree. In Hebrew, the name of this tree sounds like the word for “watching”, so the Bible calls it the “watching tree”. God said: “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it” (Jer 1:12).

At that time, the people of Judah had left God to worship foreign gods. Jeremiah bravely called them to come back, and warned that if they did not, the city would be destroyed. Many people did not want to listen. They mocked him and put him in prison, and once they even used ropes to lower him into a cistern with no water, only mud, and he sank deep into it (cf. Jer 38:6). Thanks to a kind man who pleaded with the king, he was pulled out (cf. Jer 38:7-13).

Even though he foretold sad days, he still announced hope to the people: God would make a new covenant: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts” (Jer 31:33). Then Jerusalem fell, just as he had foretold. At the end of his life, the people of Judah who were left took him with them to Egypt (cf. Jer 43:6-7).

Why does the Church honor him?

Jeremiah faithfully spoke God’s word, even though it meant loneliness and suffering. His life of suffering for his people helps us think of Jesus. The new covenant he announced was made by Jesus in his Blood: Jesus gave that Blood at the Last Supper and poured it out on the cross (cf. Lk 22:20).

A lesson for you

Don’t think that you are too young for God to need you: God knows you, loves you and invites you to do good with him.
When you have to tell the truth and are afraid of being laughed at, ask God for courage.
Remember that God is always “watching”, always caring for you, even when you cannot see him.

Identifying marks

A blossoming almond branch: God showed him a branch of the “watching tree” and said: “I am watching over my word to perform it” (Jer 1:12).
A scroll: he dictated God’s words to his secretary Baruch, who wrote them on a scroll (cf. Jer 36:4).
The city of Jerusalem: he wept over the city that was about to be destroyed, then saw it fall in 587 before Christ.
A rope and a muddy pit (*): he was lowered into a cistern full of mud because he spoke God’s word (cf. Jer 38:6).

(*) Only in some pictures and statues.

The text on this page is the card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.