Ezra was a scribe and priest at the time the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile that happened in the 6th century BC. This week, in our first readings, we have readings from the Book of Ezra before we move on to the Prophets Zechariah and Haggai later this week. Ezra is very upset about how the people of Israel had sinned and turned their backs on God, which seems to be a common theme in the trajectory of the history of the people of Israel. Being in exile was a dramatic and horrific experience for them. However, as many of the Jews intermarried with the non-Jewish local people, many had abandoned their Jewish faith and Jewish religious traditions for the pagan traditions of the native people. Ezra called the people to return to God’s law, but he was despondent and angry at how slowly the people were responding.
We live in a busy world today where we have a lot of things competing for our time and energy. I can attest to that. Many nights, when I have so much to do, I have to go to bed because I am already so exhausted. Sometimes it is not convenient or easy to commit ourselves to our faith. But, what is God calling us to do? Ezra displays a simple humility in the way he approaches God in our reading today. May we hear his message echo in our hearts. May we hear God calling us to the devotions and the traditions of the faith, to embrace our faith with greater zeal and urgency.
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