The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, till there was no remedy. The Chaldeans burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbath. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.'"

EXPLANATION: The Book of Chronicles (now divided into two books) is an historical summary of the history of the Chosen People. Although it begins with Adam, and covers the same ground as that covered from Genesis to 2 Kings, its chief emphasis is on David and on the Levites. Hence, of the descendants of Abraham, the tribes of Judah (David's tribe) and Levi figure with greater prominence than all the others. Of all the kings of Judah, David and Solomon have pride of place (the northern kings being omitted), and after them the "good" kings only, Jehosaphat, Ezechiah, and Josiah, who promoted or reformed the observance of the law and the divine cult in the temple. This summary history comes down to the decree of Cyrus giving the Babylonian exiles permission to return to Jerusalem. It is Generally agreed that the books of Ezrah-Nehemiah are the continuation of the same work written by the same author around 400 B.C. Today's extract refers to the edict of Cyrus, the king of Persia, permitting the exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, which had been burned by the Chaldeans as a punishment from God for the infidelities of the Chosen People.
leading...people: The last three kings of Judah were unfaithful to God and his law. The priests were no better. Pagan practices were allowed in Jerusalem and even in the temple of the true God "the abominations of the nations polluted the house of the Lord in Jerusalem."
Lord...messengers: In his mercy God kept sending his messengers, his prophets, pleading with them to mend their ways, but they ignored and even scoffed at his interventions "till there was no remedy."
The Chaldeans: King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia (also called Chaldaea) invaded Palestine, captured Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and took the king and most of the citizens off to Babylon as prisoners of war (597-587 B.C.). In this the chronicler saw the hand of God whose wrath had been aroused by the stubborn disobedience and disrespect of his Chosen People.
until...Persia: The Jews remained prisoner in Babylon for almost seventy years.
land...sabbaths: The sabbath law which prescribed rest for the people and the land (for no servile work could be done in it) had been ignored. Now this same land will have seventy years of rest for there will be no Jew to till it. Jeremiah the prophet had foretold this (see Lv. 26: 34; and Jer. 25: 11; 29: 10).
first...Cyrus: Cyrus set free all foreign prisoners of war in Babylon including the Jews. In doing this he fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah mentioned above.
the Lord...Cyrus: The God of the Jews, who was God of the Universe, was able to influence the now ruler of Babylon to set his people free, as he had influenced the previous king to punish them for their offenses against himself and his temple.
The Lord...heaven: These words do not mean that Cyrus recognized the God of the Jews as his own God and Benefactor. He respected all gods for he knew that a people obedient to their god would be obedient to himself too. Cyrus anticipated by centuries the syncretism of the Roman empire.
Let him go up: The Jewish prisoners were now free to return to their homeland and encouraged to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. Now that they had no king and no intention of having one, the temple would be the focal point round which the nation would gather; in it their faith and their hopes for a glorious future would be centered.

APPLICATION: When this world of ours shall end and we shall see the complicated and multicolored tapestry that the history of men on earth has woven, we shall clearly recognize the hand of God putting the varied and intricate strands of that history into their proper place. "The old order changeth giving place to the new and God fulfills himself in many ways," says the great poet Tennyson. Yes, even those who now think that they are running this world themselves, without any assistance or what they call interference, from God, will see who moved them––-for his own long-distance purpose. The history of the Chosen People of the Old Testament is evident proof of God's big part in the regulating of their world. He worked extraordinary miracles to bring them into Canaan, the land he promised Abraham. But on the way and during their sojourn there, again and again, he used their enemies, and his, in order to make them realize their dependence on him. God's plan was that the future Messiah would come from his Chosen People in the land of Canaan, yet he allowed the northern tribes, because of their disloyalty, to lose all ownership of their part of the territory. As we saw in today's reading, Judah (Benjamin) and Levi almost suffered the same fate. "Almost only," for here God’s plan steps in. While they had to be punished for their infidelities, the punishment was to be a purification, they would be chastised. In later days, we see Cromwell of England and Bismarck of Germany unwitting doing more to spread the Catholic Church in the western continent than all the zealous Catholic missionaries who had gone there up to that time.

The history of the Christian era is no different. God's Chosen People of the New Testament have often, been disloyal to him. They have often provoked his wrath, and God allows their enemies and probably his own enemies to purify and cleanse them. There have been times too When God allowed sinful despots to torture and kill innocent Christians for their own criminal motives, but out of the sufferings of his faithful ones God built a bigger and more loyal following. Nero, Caligula and Diocletian, for instance, sent more martyr saints to heaven than even the great Apostle St. Paul––-saints, perhaps, who might otherwise not have got there.

What holds true of people and nations is true also in the life of each individual. God is working in our lives in a way that we do not always realize. He has an active interest in each one of us from the cradle to the grave. The devout Christian family which was ever loyal to God is suddenly deprived of the bread-winner, the mother of a young family is called away leaving a helpless father to face the difficult future. The young boy or girl in whom the parents had set their hopes and on whom they had spent much of their limited income, and most of their love, is stricken down as he or she graduates from college. These do not look like the doings of a loving and benevolent God when seen from our side of eternity. But when we shall see the tapestry of our life on the last day, we shall then see why such "misfortunes" had to happen. In fact, we shall see that they were blessings from God in disguise––-someone or other of the actors in the scene would not have reached heaven had these so-called misfortunes not occurred in the family.

God is looking after us, he can write straight with "crooked" lines, the crookedness indeed is the result of our angle of view. When the whole picture is painted we shall see how necessary it was for our salvation that we should take the rough with the smooth. Fair-weather sailors are not fit for long and difficult voyages. Our journey to heaven is a long and often stormy voyage we need to be trained in dealing with storms if we are to arrive safely in the place that God has destined for us. While very often we can attribute the storms of life to the wickedness of evil neighbors or anti-religious governments, let us not forget it, God is using these crooked lines and these worldly agents to write for us that beautiful sentence: "well done, thou good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of the Lord." So may it be for all of us!

Christ the Lord  You never really know someone until you know what’s in their heart – what motivates them, what they’re looking for, why they do what they do. In this conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus lays bare the heart of God.

The history of salvation, from the fall of Adam and Eve until the final judgment, revolves around the coming of Jesus Christ, the Savior, the Son of God. Why did he come? Because the Father sent him. Why did the Father send him? Because he “loved the world so much.” He simply couldn’t bear to see us perish in our sins; he longed to share with us his everlasting life. God cares. And Jesus Christ is the definitive proof that he cares. He cares so much that he is willing to sacrifice his only Son to atone for the sins that have separated man from God, the source of all good things. We need look no further to find the very core of the gospel: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.” No hidden agenda, no selfish undertones – pure generosity. This is the heart of God, of the Lord who longs for our friendship.

Only when a Christian internalizes this fundamental and overarching motive of God does Christian discipleship really begin to mature. This is Christ’s revolution. That disinterested, self-forgetful love has the power to overcome all evil and renew every human heart and the human race as a whole. The rules and rituals of Christianity are not its core, but its leaves. Joy, the kind of joy that none of life’s contrarieties can diminish, as the lives of countless saints from every walk of life so powerfully attest to, is its flower. But its root is God’s love, and its fruit is God’s love lived out in the humdrum routine of daily life by the followers of Christ.

Christ the Teacher  With these few sentences, Jesus lifts the veil of heaven and gives us a brief glimpse into the life of God himself.

The conversation between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that led to the Incarnation and the salvation of sinful mankind was one of love. Love spoke to Love, and Love answered, and Love himself came to earth to teach us love. God is a relationship of eternal love between the Three Divine Persons.

Theologians reflecting on the Trinity see its image in the human family. The love of husband and wife in an embrace of complete and mutual self-giving yield a child. It is love that brings them together and love that brings new life. Similarly, but in an even more marvelous way, the Father and the Son look upon each other with such love that the love itself is another Person, another source of love, the Holy Spirit.

Christ the Friend  Jesus has proven his love by coming to earth “for our sake and for our salvation.” He invites us to believe, so that we might not perish but have eternal life. He did not come for his own sake, but for ours. This is the epitome of friendship. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). But in his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus once again points out that we remain free to accept or reject his offer of friendship, his offer of salvation. He makes it starkly clear: “Whoever does not believe in him has already been condemned.” Salvation depends on God and on us; God has done his part, now we must do ours.

Nicodemus: I remember the tone of the Lord’s voice that night. We were talking quietly, almost alone. Only one of his young disciples was there with us. We were sitting outside near a fire on a hillside under the stars. How could I forget this, my first conversation with the Master? His voice resonated with the very love of which he spoke. His eyes glimmered in the firelight with eager enthusiasm. I knew even then that it was the enthusiasm that had been at the origin of his mission to earth. As he spoke of those who believed in him, he grew joyful and glad. Then his words trembled with sadness and disappointment when he spoke of those who did not believe. How could I not be convinced by his wisdom, brighter and hotter than the fire between us? It was a risk for me to come to him that night, but I am ever grateful that I took it.

Christ in My Life  I am so glad to be loved, Lord, and yet I am so slow to love. My heart is so inconstant. If I like someone, I treat them the way you would have me treat them, but if they rub me the wrong way, I bristle and gripe. Teach me to be a mature Christian. Teach me to love in word and deed, in thought and action. Teach me to love everyone the way you love…

I praise you, Father all-powerful, Christ, Lord and Savior, Holy Spirit of love. You have revealed yourself to me, and you have drawn me to share in your life and your love. Stay near to me, God. You have created me in your image and you have given life to this world because of your love. In your goodness make me an instrument of your mercy…

Lead me, Lord, to the pinnacle of love. I don’t ask to be taken to new places or given new tasks. I ask you to unveil your beauty here where I live and work, where you have placed me. I ask you to infuse me with your love in the tasks you have already given me to do. I believe in you, Lord. Thy will be done…

• The 1st reading from 2nd Chronicles gives a short summary of the events leading up to the exile of the people of the kingdom of Judah into Babylon around the year 722 B.C. What was the sin of the people that led up to the exile (verse 14)? In what ways did God try to warn them? What was their response? Through what means were they restored? What can we learn from their experience?