Ezra-Nehemiah: Work
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Everyone knew that the work had been done with God’s help. (Nehemiah 6:15-16)
For nearly a month we have explored the books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Esdras in the Douay version) and with a casual glance, we see that they describe the reconstruction of the Temple and the Jerusalem city walls when the Israelites return from exile. With a deeper look, we see that these books, together with 1 and 2 Chronicles, tell the story of how a people rise from rubble with the protection of their enemy Cyrus. Now we consider what this story might mean for each us today.
Authored by “The Chronicler,” these book describe how Ezra, a priest who traces his heritage back to Aaron, and Nehemiah, a man who reconstructs the walls of Jerusalem, collaborate as a pair: Ezra calling the post-exilic community back to the Torah, and Nehemiah organizing the work of the rebuilding of the city walls. They work together “to make it possible for Judaism to maintain its identity during the difficult days of the Restoration. Nehemiah was the man of action who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and introduced necessary administrative reform. Ezra in turn was the great religious leader who succeeded in establishing the Torah as the constitution of the returned community”. (Senior 487)
Today as we move through our daily tasks, we spend time reflecting on our spiritual and physical lives to examine what we build and why we build it. Today we consider the work of our lives.
Image from: http://slideplayer.com/slide/5280077/
Adapted from a reflection written on September 16, 2007.
Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.487. Print.
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