THURSDAY OF THE TWELVE WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

1st Reading  2 Kings 24: 8-17

Psalm            Ps. 79:1-2.3-5.8-9 (R. see 9bc) 

Gospel        Matthew 7:21-29

Rescue us, O Lord for our stronghold has been broken into. Rescue us for we are perishing, save the dying and protect our 10,000 men going into exile in Babylon. This is the anguish in Judah as in the first reading of today. 

Judah is at the verge of being conquered by the Babylonians under the famous Nebuchadnezzar who is already in the 8th year of his reign. At this time, Jehoiachin has just been made king of Judah and, just like his predecessors, he is noted to have done evil in the sight of the Lord. Three months of reign as King of Judah, they were sent into exile and these are trying moments in Judah and for Jehoiachin, a dream-shattering incident. This is the result of Jehoiachin's misdeed. 

As is often the case, Judah suffers the same fate as other nations as they weakly watched Babylonians taking away treasures of the Temple of the Lord and those of the Royal Palace. These are items peculiar to kingship: God's rule and of his human representative as King of Judah. Prior to this, the walls of Jerusalem were being broken into. They trusted the walls of Jerusalem. What happens now that the walls have been broken into? Fear! Anguish! 

They also trusted their nobles who were strong enough to defend them against assailants. These are strong men in society. A whooping ten thousand of these men were being carried off to Babylon as slaves. These are men they relied on for protection.  In fact, men of technical know-how were constitutive of the number en route for Babylon. These are men who are developers and make life less burdensome. In our day we may be forced to name them 'technocrats'.

Despair is heightened with strong technical men, parents of children and husbands of pregnant women taken away into exile. What happens to the remnants, those left behind, the poor as the reading describes them? Are they really poor? And who is a poor person as exemplified by the text? Deducing from the text, we see a poor person in terms of the lack of something; of finance as treasures were taken away, of support as strong men were taken away and walls broken, inter alia. Poverty is a lack of something. They were also not taken to exile because they had nothing to offer toward the development of Babylon. 

Personally, I think they are not so poor as we would see. They had God as the arbitrator. He gives the final verdict. He is their only Hope, the only wall which has not yet been broken into. 

Nebuchadnezzar, by his acts, subjected the remnants (those who were left behind and not taken to exile, the poor and the weak, the elders, children and women who cannot do much work) to torture, God remains their wall, their shield.

With the Gospel, we learn to be faithful so that with ‘Lord, Lord,’ we may witness the saving power of God. May we may be enduring in times when the rains will fall and winds will blow.

Pax et Bonum