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June 23, 2016
The first reading for today sounds remarkably familiar to what is going on in our world today. The names are different, but the chaotic, destructive events that are occurring are the same. I remember when 9/11 occurred, as everyone does. Like most people, for days on end we had the television on all the time trying to understand and make sense of such destruction. Two things finally occurred to me. First, there was not going to be a reason identified that made sense to me. The devastation that continues to occur in our country falls under the same umbrella. These awful events are occurring for no reason that we can understand.
When I read this first passage, I can only imagine the mothers. The descriptors in the passage are frightening: “a city under siege”; “The king…, together with his mother, surrendered”; Mothers who had to be worried about where their children were or how to feed them with all the treasures “carried off”.
I believe the gospel for today was assigned to us as an “angel moment”, or as a “for Pete’s sake, pay attention moment”. Hopefully this will allow us to rebuild a house on rock or refortify where any rock we might have as a foundation has been damaged.