Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
‘Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.’
(From Mending Wall by Robert Frost)
When Nehemiah heard that
the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruin he was devastated: On hearing this I sank
down and wept; for several days I mourned, fasting and praying before the God
of heaven. (1:4)
Why would he do this?
Why would he react so strongly?
Nehemiah was a just man,
faithful to the Law and deeply conscious of himself as a member of God’s Chosen
People. In the desecration and destruction of the walls he saw the sins of his
people and was deeply ashamed. He fell down before the Lord and on behalf of
the People he prayed: I confess the sins of the sons of Israel which we have
committed against you: I and my father's House have sinned. We have acted very
wickedly towards you: we have not kept the commandments, laws and customs you
laid down for Moses your servant. (1:6-7)
For Nehemiah the
integrity of the city of Jerusalem, and particularly the integrity of the walls
and gates, was an image of the integrity of the People and, clearly, this was
in tatters. Moreover, without the integrity that comes from obedience to the
Law of Moses the people were no longer the People; they were without identity.
We could pause here and
ask ourselves how we respond to the images of death, destruction and despair we
see on our television screens so often today? What would a Tutsi or a Hutu make
of the piles of corpses littering the Rwandan countryside? What would an Iraqi
or Pakistani see in the mangled bodies strewn around the crater made by a
suicide bomber? What do we see in the overflowing garbage bins of abortionists,
if not men and women who have forsaken their God and put themselves in his
place? This was the cruel sword which pierced Nehemiah’s heart two and a half
thousand years ago and the desolation experienced today by every serious
Catholic on seeing the offences, great and small, committed against the
merciful God.
Nehemiah, and his
compatriot Ezra, set about restoring Israel’s integrity and thus their
identity. Nehemiah’s mission was that of rebuilding the city walls and gates,
while Ezra’s mission was to move the People to recommit themselves to live the
Law of Moses and to worship God according to the prescriptions of the Torah. In
other words, they set about purifying lifestyles and restoring the liturgy.
Ring any bells?
It should not surprise
us that from the first moments of the decision to rebuild the walls there was
opposition: When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the walls he flew
into a rage, beside himself with anger. What a startlingly different
reaction to that of Nehemiah on hearing of the plight of Holy City!
He ridiculed the
Jews and in front of his kinsmen and the wealthy men of Samaria he exclaimed,
'What are these pathetic Jews trying to do?... Do they expect to finish in one
day? Do they think they can put new life into these charred stones, salvaged
from the heaps of rubble?' (3:33-34)
Nehemiah’s opponents,
some of whom were Jews themselves(!), tried to stop him by every means at their
disposal. Any bishop, priest or layperson who has resolved to restore some
sense of the sacred to our noisy, horizontal liturgies will recognise the
tactics. Sanballat begins with anger. This is often enough to frighten
off the weak. Next comes public ridicule, which no one likes, and which
often deters from standing up for what they know to be right those who love
their popularity.
Ridicule is followed by
personal insults (these pathetic Jews) and a questioning, not only of
their ability to finish the task (Do they expect to finish in one day?)
but of their very grasp on reality (Do they think they can put new life into
these charred stones, salvaged from the heaps of rubble?).
We understand that
Nehemiah saw, not charred stones and heaps of rubble, but bruised, demoralised
and despairing men and women especially chosen by God to form a Chosen People.
With the Lord there are no heaps of rubble; there are only souls waiting to be
redeemed.
As the work neared
completion opposition grew. Physical violence was planned but Nehemiah avoided
falling into the traps set for him and finally the work was completed. God is
always on the side of restoration.
Let us turn again to
today’s First Reading:
… all the people
gathered as one man on the square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the
scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which Yahweh had prescribed for
Israel.
Ezra the priest
brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old
enough to understand. This was the first day of the seventh month. On the
square before the Water Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and
children old enough to understand, he read from the book from early morning
till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
…the people were
all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.
We have come back to our
beginning - the weeping Nehemiah. But now it is not Nehemiah who weeps, it is
the People. They have been restored and renewed and they cry - but their
restorer bids them be joyful, as would one day the true Restorer cause us to cry
out Alleluia!
