Consolation

 

LECTIO:              Baruch 5:1-9

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
    put on the splendor of glory from God forever:
wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,
    bear on your head the mitre
    that displays the glory of the eternal name.
For God will show all the earth your splendor:
    you will be named by God forever
    the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.
    
Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
    look to the east and see your children
gathered from the east and the west
    at the word of the Holy One,
    rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
    but God will bring them back to you
    borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.
For God has commanded
    that every lofty mountain be made low,
and that the age-old depths and gorges
    be filled to level ground,
    that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.
The forests and every fragrant kind of tree
    have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;
for God is leading Israel in joy
    by the light of his glory,
    with his mercy and justice for company.

STUDIUM:

Only a few books speak of the possibility of the Israelites living permanently outside the promise land: Tobit, Baruch, Wisdom, and some of Esther.  The first three aren't in the Hebrew canon and thus are not part of the Jewish or Protestant versions of the Bible.  Apocryphal is the Protestant name for these books.  Catholics call them Deuterocanonical, from the Greek, a second canon, separated from the other.  Baruch tells us about homelessness and foreign existence.  So, Baruch encourages the Israelites to find God in the foreign territory.

     Baruch is for a people who feel abandoned, lost--physically and emotionally.  Baruch helps the people turn to God for help.  Prayer, traditions, hope, and strength to persevere, are Baruch's message.

MEDITATIO:

Presently, my country is very divided politically.  I take these verses to heart.  Israel is at war, again.  Russia is fighting in the Ukraine.  Countries in Southern Africa are revolting.  Drug gangs in Central and South America cause people to come to the USA.  But Baruch says to turn to God.

ORATIO:

Mercy and justice are hoped for, in the Lord.  It certainly isn't here in my world.  Hear our cries, Jesus.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Don't lose hope.  Put on God's cloak of joy.

Baruch

 LECTIO:

Baruch 5: 1-9

Bar 5:1-9

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
    put on the splendor of glory from God forever:
wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,
    bear on your head the mitre
    that displays the glory of the eternal name.
For God will show all the earth your splendor:
    you will be named by God forever
    the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.
    
Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
    look to the east and see your children
gathered from the east and the west
    at the word of the Holy One,
    rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
    but God will bring them back to you
    borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.
For God has commanded
    that every lofty mountain be made low,
and that the age-old depths and gorges
    be filled to level ground,
    that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.
The forests and every fragrant kind of tree
    have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;
for God is leading Israel in joy
    by the light of his glory,
    with his mercy and justice for company.

STUDIUM:

Whoever wrote these verses has been given the name, Baruch.  This book is not included in the Jewish canon or Protestant Bibles. But the message is similar to other postexilic prophets.  Baruch is addressing Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Babylonians.  Everyone is filled with "sorrow."  So Baruch concludes with words of hope.  God will lead Israel with mercy and righteousness which is what God always intends--this is the right ordering of relationships, both among human beings and countries.

MEDITATIO:

This is God's vision of peace: mercy, righteousness and ever-lasting hope in the Lord.  When people wish you God's peace, this is what they are expressing.

On an individual level, a person can be exiled from God.  But don't lose hope that God can't bring them back.

ORATIO:

Lord, again I pray for my loved ones who are in exile, like Jerusalem. I have hope that you will secure them in Your arms.

CONTEMPLATIO:

I think of all the peoples who are in exile, migrants, Palestinians, Afghanistans, Sudanese, etc.  Come Lord Jesus, come.

RESOLUTIO:

I won't give up hope that God will restore all the way He meant it to be.