Finding our way back to God

In today’s first reading,  2 Kings 24: 8-17, we hear about the collapse of Jerusalem, the people  surrendering to the King of Babylon and being deported, the treasures of the temple being confiscated. The breakdown of this ancient society is rooted in their rulers having become slaves to evil ways, the covenant having been abandoned, the idolatrous ways of the surrounding nations having been adopted. Infidelity after infidelity eroded the morality of the people. The consequences could not have been more frightful.

The Chosen People, through the psalmist, bring their situation to God’s attention: 

               O God, the nations have come into your inheritance,

               They have defiled your holy temple,

               They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

….We have become the reproach of our neighbours,                         

               the scorn and derision of those around us.

O, Lord, how long? Will you be angry forever?

Will your jealousy burn like fire?....

This isn’t about God being angry but about the Chosen people being unfaithful and suffering the consequences of poor choices! We aren’t any different from our ancestors, as we, too, have gone astray, chasing that which is not of God, taking on the God-less attitudes and ways of “nations” around us, bent on destroying anything of divine origin.  When our consequences are dire, do we, too, cry out: “O Lord, how long? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?” Or do we change our ways, repent and return to a life of holiness, justice, and truth?