The end of all earthly safety

It is the ultimate nightmare.

The military forces of the nation have been defeated.

The capital city has been overrun.

The holiest of places has been seized and ransacked by violent men of another religion.

And the people have been rounded up and carted away to slavery.

This nightmare is recounted in today’s first reading (2 Kings 24:8-17): the fall of Jerusalem, the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity, the greatest catastrophe to devastate the People of God in Old Testament times.

May God forbid that any of us should ever suffer anything as catastrophic in our own lives.

But, even more, may God give us the grace to endure any evil that may befall us and to live secure in spirit and faithful in all things no matter what.