Hello Friends,
I wonder what came to your mind when you heard the readings this weekend, especially the Gospel. One of the things that we are aware of is that suffering and turmoil have been a part of everyday life, especially for the Middle East people.
The first reading takes us back 600 years before Christ when the land we now know of as Iraq had the name of Babylon and at a time when Babylonians were trying to take Jerusalem. The Babylonians were in power at the time and the Kings Army's goal was to conquer all the nations around them. Jeremiah, God's prophet, told the Jews it was useless for them to fight or try to defend themselves; they should just go ahead and surrender or Jerusalem would be destroyed. Such talk was viewed as unpatriotic and Jeremiah was considered a traitor. Many of the Jewish leaders decided to kill Jeremiah and they persuaded their King, Zedikiah, to give in to their wishes. He allowed Jeremiah to be thrown into a cistern to die. Later, Ebed-Melech, a Cushite (which means Ethiopian), ne of Jeremiah's friends, persuaded the king to change his mind.
Estados Amigos,
Este fin de semana escuchamos unas lecturas bastante duras y dificiles de entender, especialmente el evangelio. Primeramente, todos sabemos que el sufrimiento y confusion han sido parte de la vida diaria yo cotidiana. Este fue y es el caso de la gente en el Medio Oriente. La primera lectura nos lleva 600 anos antes de Cristo cuando los Babilonios querian gobernar todas las naciones a sue alrededor. Asi que los Babilonicos planearon en conquistar la gran ciudad de Jersusalem. El profeta de Dios, Jeremiah les dijo a los judios que lo lucharon contra los Babilonicos, que era inutil resistirse, por lo que lo miraron como un tradior y trataron de matarlo. Es intersante como Dios nos habla a todos en diferentes manera, aun en medio de desastres.
Fr. Alex Urena
I wonder what came to your mind when you heard the readings this weekend, especially the Gospel. One of the things that we are aware of is that suffering and turmoil have been a part of everyday life, especially for the Middle East people.
The first reading takes us back 600 years before Christ when the land we now know of as Iraq had the name of Babylon and at a time when Babylonians were trying to take Jerusalem. The Babylonians were in power at the time and the Kings Army's goal was to conquer all the nations around them. Jeremiah, God's prophet, told the Jews it was useless for them to fight or try to defend themselves; they should just go ahead and surrender or Jerusalem would be destroyed. Such talk was viewed as unpatriotic and Jeremiah was considered a traitor. Many of the Jewish leaders decided to kill Jeremiah and they persuaded their King, Zedikiah, to give in to their wishes. He allowed Jeremiah to be thrown into a cistern to die. Later, Ebed-Melech, a Cushite (which means Ethiopian), ne of Jeremiah's friends, persuaded the king to change his mind.
Estados Amigos,
Este fin de semana escuchamos unas lecturas bastante duras y dificiles de entender, especialmente el evangelio. Primeramente, todos sabemos que el sufrimiento y confusion han sido parte de la vida diaria yo cotidiana. Este fue y es el caso de la gente en el Medio Oriente. La primera lectura nos lleva 600 anos antes de Cristo cuando los Babilonios querian gobernar todas las naciones a sue alrededor. Asi que los Babilonicos planearon en conquistar la gran ciudad de Jersusalem. El profeta de Dios, Jeremiah les dijo a los judios que lo lucharon contra los Babilonicos, que era inutil resistirse, por lo que lo miraron como un tradior y trataron de matarlo. Es intersante como Dios nos habla a todos en diferentes manera, aun en medio de desastres.
Fr. Alex Urena
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