Please read this passage before reading the homily
Athaliah was not a legitimate ruler; she was a usurper. The author introduces all the other rulers with a standard formula, such as, “In the twelfth year A, king of (name), B became king of (name) in (city) and reigned for (x) years.” Not so with Athaliah, the usurper queen, she simply killed off all rightful heirs and took over.
She killed all the princes, the male heirs. She spared her dead son’s sister and the high priest because they could not succeed to the throne. She did miss one the princes because his older sister was able to hide him from the queen.
Perhaps she should have got rid of the high priest and the palace guards because these were able to keep the prince hidden and plan for a counter coup on Athaliah.
When the right time had come, the temple priests and the royal guards were able to crown the king and kill Athaliah. With this, peace returned to Jerusalem.
What can we make of this? Athaliah underestimated the power of her enemies, failing to see the high priest and royal staff as potential opponents. Perhaps she should have neutralized them, but perhaps this would have brought her rule to an end sooner.
Perhaps when Israel has exterminated completely Hamas, they will find that there are still some relatives of Hamas who will one day rise to avenge the deaths of their ancestors. Perhaps we need to repent from the evil we perpetrate so that hostility, hate and death can give birth to a lasting peace built on justice, forgiveness, and love.