Please read the passage before the homily:
We start a series of readings from Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai. Their books speak to the same historical time, the return from Exile and the rebuilding of the temple.
Our reading today begins with the last three verses of Second Chronicles. Chronicles ends with the exile, and Ezra begins with the return from Exile.
Cyrus and the Persian rulers tended to be favorable to the religious practices of the conquered peoples and assisted in rebuilding their paces of worship. The Temple in Jerusalem was one of these places of worship. The Northen tribes who had been expel many years before the end of the Davidic kings were included in Cyrus’s amnesty (They were “the survivors who dwelt in whatever place they may have dwelt”).
It was time to go back home. Just as had happened at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were assisted by donations form the people of the land. The return from Exile is like a new Exodus. Perhaps every time God saves us, it is like a new Exodus. When Jesus came to save us, he came down to us, lived among us, died for us, and then returned to heaven with us in the new and definitive Exodus.
It is a time for rebuilding. Ezra had to rebuild a city and temple. Even today we are rebuilding, recovering from wars, and still ensnared in conflicts. We need Cyruses and Ezras to call us to peace and to rebuilding. We need to pick up our belongings and shoulder them for the journey. May the Lord keep us inspired to build for peace.
The work of the prophets we hear this week remind us to rely on the Lord even when the work of peace and restoration seems difficult, hard, or even impossible.