Return, rebellious children…for I am your Master. God’s plea with Israel (and indirectly with humanity in its entirety) has always been consistent: “ turn away from your evil ways and come back to me; return to me and let me shepherd you for I know all your needs.” It is a plea that God has always made with Israel through the prophets. It is a plea made with the knowledge that the longer Israel stays estranged from the Lord, the more difficult it becomes for the Lord to shepherd her. 
In the plea which the Lord made through the prophet Jeremiah and about which we hear in today’s passage, the Lord promises Israel a new beginning, a new relationship. The Lord promises a new relationship which will not be externally represented with the ark of the covenant or anything like it. Rather, the Lord himself will be enthroned in Jerusalem and will himself be personally present to Israel. Moreover, in this new relationship, the statutes of the Lord will be within the people’s reach, making it easier for the people to listen to and carry out the commands of the Lord. And having learnt the ways of the Lord, Israel will be ready to lead the nations of the world in walking rightly with the Lord (cf. Jeremiah 3:17). On its part, Jerusalem will be rightly referred to as the Lord’s throne because her inhabitants will be a people who walk with God.
The Lord God is a gatherer and a redeemer (Responsorial Psalm). The Lord is never happy or contented when our sinful actions keep us away from him and from our brothers and sisters. As a redeemer, the Lord will do whatever it takes to bring the scattered children back “home,” for the Lord takes no pleasure in the death of a sinner (cf. Ezekiel 33:11). The Lord deals with us thus because the Lord’s name is mercy. May we always take advantage of the Lord’s merciful nature and strive to stay in a life-giving relationship with him.