Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - Tuesday in the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezra 6:7-8, 12B, 14-20 and Luke 8:19-21]King Darius issued an order to the officials of West-of-Euphrates: "Let the governor and the elders of the Jews continue the work on that house of God.....
It is difficult to imagine exile until one has experienced it. If one has the opportunity to speak to someone who has sought political asylum in the USA or has been displaced by a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, then one might have an idea. The desire to "go home and rebuild" is extremely strong, a magnetic force! Today's first scripture describes a step in the process of the restoration of the Jewish homeland after their seventy-year forced exile by the Babylonians. The Babylonians were conquered in their turn by the Persians under King Cyrus. It is he who allowed them to return. His successor, Darius, continued the process, which is the subject of the scripture passage today. In essence, the Persians paid for the rebuilding of the temple. This "second temple," fabulously renovated by Herod the Great, is the one frequented by Jesus when he was in Jerusalem. As all exiles discover, "things aren't the same" when they return. There are more adjustments to be made. The period from the return from Babylon to the time of the destruction of the temple by the Romans is known as "Second Temple Judaism!" Much of the Old Testament as we know it was put into writing in this period. In short, the Jews had to undergo a process of "restoration" and re-creation. The recovery of the familiar and the traditional would be shaped by the demands of the moment. Ask anyone who moved back to New Orleans or especially the Mississippi Gulf Coast! Even if one rebuilds the exact same house on the exact same piece of property, "it's just not the same!" For the next few days, the first scriptures for the liturgy will come from the account of the "return" from exile in the Book of Ezra. The issues will be familiar ones and perhaps we can recognize the opportunities of gain and loss which accompany traumatic exile. It is an opportunity to look around our world and see how this experience should challenge our prayer and compassion. AMEN
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