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Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 12:1–12
In today’s reading, God asks Ezekiel to do something strange.
He must pack his belongings as if he is going into exile.
He must leave the house while people are watching.
He must dig through the wall.
He must cover his face.
He must become a living sign.
This was not theatre.
This was prophecy.
Ezekiel was already among the exiles in Babylon. Many of them still hoped that Jerusalem would survive. The city was still standing. The temple was still there. Perhaps they thought: “This exile will not last long. Soon we will go home.”
But God told Ezekiel to show them the truth.
Jerusalem would fall.
The king would try to escape.
But he would not escape.
This points to King Zedekiah. When Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, he fled by night. But he was captured near Jericho. His sons were killed before his eyes. Then he was blinded and taken to Babylon.
It is a terrible story.
But it teaches us something important.
Sin creates consequences.
Lies create consequences.
Bad leadership creates consequences.
Refusing the word of God creates consequences.
Zedekiah had heard the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah told him that the only path left was surrender. It was humiliating, but it was the way of life. Zedekiah refused. He chose escape instead of truth.
And escape became judgment.
This is not only ancient history.
We also know the temptation to escape.
We avoid difficult conversations.
We hide from the truth about ourselves.
We pretend that a broken relationship is fine.
We postpone conversion.
We tell ourselves that our habits are not serious.
We hope that if we wait long enough, the consequences will disappear.
But some things do not disappear because we ignore them.
Ezekiel’s strange action tells us: stop pretending. Stop living in illusion. Stop waiting for false comfort.
Imagine what would have happened if Zedekiah had listened to Jeremiah.
His life and his household would have been spared.
His eyes would not have been taken from him.
And that is the sober truth we can learn from this tragic story.
God always offers a way out, but it is not denial.
There is new life, but it begins with truth, repentance, and facing the consequences of our actions.
Jesus began his proclamation with these words:
“Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
Because for those who change their ways and put their trust in God’s mercy offered to us in the crucified and risen Jesus, a new beginning is always waiting.
Today, we can ask ourselves:
Where am I trying to escape instead of listening to God?
What truth am I avoiding?
What conversion have I postponed?
The Lord does not invite us to despair.
He invites us to stop running.
He invites us to turn back.
Because in Christ, even exile can become the beginning of return.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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