Word to the Wise
Monday, September 27, 2021 - Monday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Zech 8:1-8 and Luke 9:46-50]Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and women, each with staff in hand because of old age, shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem. The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people, shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also, says the Lord of hosts? Thus says the Lord of hosts: Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun, I will briefing them back to dwell within Jerusalem. They shall be my people, and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice. [Zechariah]
SEPTEMBER 27 ST. VINCENT DE PAUL, c.m.
It could be difficult to imagine the challenge given to the Israelites by the emperor of Persia, Cyrus, They were told, after 70 years of exile, that they could return to their homeland and particularly to Jerusalem, which had been left in ruins, especially the temple, which was their central religious symbol. Perhaps the nearest we could come to it would be the return of persons told by the authorities (who had ordered them to evacuate) to a town devastated by tornado, hurricane or forest fire, including the single church that was their principal gathering focus. Should they rebuild? How should they rebuild? Where should they start?
Zechariah is one of the post-exilic prophets who aimed at motivating the Jewish people to put hands and heart and faith to work in rebuilding both nation and people. The question of priorities was critical. Should resources go to rebuilding the temple or the city and individual dwellings? Nowadays, the focus would be both on how to restore water and power to homes that would still need to be themselves restored! Rebuilding a church would come after that!
Time after time when watching news coverage of disasters, I have seen that what sustains people in these situations is their faith that working with God they can pick up their lives and start again. One can sense the discomfort or respectful distance that secular media has with interviews like those, but Zechariah and Haggai and the other post-exilic prophets remind us, in the words of Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build." AMEN