Jeremiah is not a book for intellectuals. It is for individuals and communities who face dangerous life situations. It talks about survival in the midst of disruptions. For people who live in crises situations ,the reading of the book of Jeremiah is a daring reading.

1. Call to share the Pain of God. In this book we see God as the suffering partner of the covenant. Jeremiah is asked to share the pain of God in his prophetic ministry. He undergoes all sorts of suffering and agony. We can see similarities with the suffering of Jesus. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. When we engage in mission ,it is not simply our mission but it is the mission of God with full of challenges.

2. Call for covenantal Faithfulness. The faithful partner of the covenant is always in a resolve to forgive. There is a strong call for return to the covenant and a candid admonition to amend our ways. Faithlessness will lead to chaos.

3. Call to accept Exile as reality. It is God's intervention in History. The royal ideology which says that the presence of the temple will give you immunity from consequences is refuted. God's plan is above all human plans. God is above all empires. Empires whether it is Jerusalem or Babylon is not ultimate. So this is a call to accept God's design above all human plans.

4. Call for collective memory. The faithful are asked to remember exodus event of liberation and consider it as paradigm for God's intervention in history. If there is no good memory, celebration in the community is lost.

5. Call for Hope. There is poignant presentation about hope which a believer need to possess in the life situations of hopelessness. In modern rational categories hope is not a viable possibility. Modern people think that what is possible is contained in what is humanly available. This book asks us to believe in hope which is a faith category. What is not humanly possible is possible for God. Whether it is forgiving the straying partner or bringing back the happiness of the community. Human rationality often prevents us from seeing the brightness of hope which God offers. This is a call to believe in God's promises. He has got plans for our welfare because he has loved us with an everlasting love and is ready to write a renewed covenant on the walls of our heart. There is an yearning for the lost. There is a repeated call to believe in the promises.

The reading of the book of Jeremiah helps us to see the conviction of a man of God. Also it introduces to us the intensity of God's yearning for the called out community . These readings provide us hope when life situations promote hopelessness. This hope gives the individuals and communities power to stand strong as faithful people in the midst of challenges. Church is a prophetic community and its members are always engaged in facing challenges of despair. This book gives us hope because we have a savior who is with us as our partner both in our pain and in our welfare.

KCV