Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 25, 2025 - Thursday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Hag 1:1-8 and Luke 9:7-9]"Consider your ways! Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the Lord." [Haggai]
The prophet Haggai is one of several in the Bible who are known as "post-exilic." They stood as challengers to the way things were developing after the Babylonian Exile ended and Jews were permitted to return to Jerusalem. The emphasis in Haggai is on the rebuilding of the temple as the primary task. The temple would be regarded as God's residence on earth in the midst of his Chosen People.
If there can be said to be a constant theme of all the biblical prophets, I think it would have to be the line: "Consider your ways!" This admonition is not just an "examination of conscience" for wrongdoing, but a more "wholistic" challenge of identity - the whole way we see ourselves and how we live our faith. A good retreat is one way of doing this, but even then, the challenge is a long term one. Changing one's mind and heart and attitudes can be more difficult than changing one's behavior. Close friends and family (and preachers) may say to us, "Consider your ways!" but ultimately we have to put our hand in God's hand and take the steps toward change. AMEN