Call to Faithfulness

In today's first reading, Nehemiah 8: 1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12, Ezra, the scribe, gathers all the the people together--men, women and all children capable of understanding--to listen to a reading of the Law of Moses.  The ;people, having returned from the Babylonian exile, having rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem and also having built a sturdy wall around the city fell into serious violations of the law, forcing "fellow fellow Jews to sell sons and daughters into slavery and overlook[ing] the hungry" (Carroll Stuhlmeuller, C.P., Biblical Meditations for Ordinary Time--Weeks 23-34, Paulist Press, Ramsey, New Jersey, 1984, p. 85).  As the people, from the rising of the sun until noon, listened to the scribe read, explain and challenge the people in their wrongdoing, they wept in sorrow and shame and repented of their sinful behavior.

Like the Israelites who needed to repent, so, too, do we. Nations throughout the world have rejected the Commandments of the Lord and engaged in activities that denies people their basic human rights to food, safe shelter, adequate health care and  necessary education to secure jobs that enable them to provide for their families.  So, too, today, the hungry are ignored. The people seeking refuge from danger in their own countries are abused and blocked from seeking asylum in countries they deem safe havens to raise their children. To make ends meet, some parents sell their children to the slave of agricultural camps and hostels where children are used to make money by human traffickers. the list of violations of the Gospel message and the en commandments goes on and on!

Repent and believe; the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, Jesus tells us in the Gospels!

Will we, like the Israelites, recognize our having gone astray? Will we listen to those proclaiming the Scriptures and explaining the Commandments of the Lord?  Or will be simply, pridefully, and sorely continue to miss opportunities of grace that lead us back to being faithful to our baptismal commitments and the disciplines necessary in living Jesus' way?  Will we as a nation, as individuals,  continue to reject God's way to the point that we will suffer the consequences, not just here on earth, but also in eternity?