In our first reading today from the scribe Ezra, we hear about the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem after the Jewish people had returned from their exile in Babylon. According to Jewish Tradition, Erza helped reintroduce their Sacred Scripture, the Torah, to the people of Jerusalem after their exile. The description of the return and rebuilding sounds orderly and successful, however, from other descriptions of the return from exile in the Old Testament, we know that there was a lot of confusion, arguments, and frustrations. Some thought the new Temple was not good enough compared to the Temple that Solomon built. Also, there were a lot of tensions and accusations going back and forth between those who were sent into exile and those who had remained behind in Jerusalem during that time. We see tensions in our modern Church today on many different levels. Looking at those tensions from the lens of what went on in Ancient Israel, perhaps we can better understand our reality today. Rather than accuse or attack someone who thinks differently than we do in our Church, perhaps we can learn from them and try to get along. Perhaps we can celebrate and appreciate the diversity that exists within our community of faith.
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