Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
2 Chronicles 24:17–25
Yesterday, we heard about Joash.
He was an infant when he was saved from the hands of the cruel queen Athaliah, and at the age of seven he was crowned king of Judah.
It was a beautiful beginning.
A child rescued from death. A promise preserved. A new king placed on the throne.
But today, the story turns dark.
Joash grows up. Jehoiada, the priest who saved him, dies. And the king begins to listen to other voices that lead him away from the Lord.
Joash, the child once saved by fidelity, becomes a man who betrays it.
He abandons the house of the Lord. He turns toward idols.
God wants to save him again by sending the son of his former savior.
Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, calls Joash to repentance.
But instead of listening, Joash has Zechariah killed.
The son of the priest who saved his life is murdered by his command.
This is the tragedy of Joash.
A good beginning does not always guarantee a faithful end.
Jesus Himself remembers Zechariah when He speaks against those who kill the prophets:
“From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary” (see Luke 11:49–51).
Zechariah stands in the long line of witnesses who spoke the truth and paid the price.
History offers many similar stories. One of them is Nero, the emperor who burned Rome and then blamed the Christians, unleashing a cruel persecution against them.
As a young emperor, Nero had Seneca, one of Rome’s great philosophers, as his tutor.
At first, under Seneca’s guidance, Nero ruled well.
Historians even speak of the “five good years” of his reign.
But later, Nero moved away from his teacher.
Fear, suspicion, and the hunger for power took hold of him.
In the end, he ordered Seneca’s death.
Joash and Nero raise the same painful question:
Why do some people remain faithful to the end, while others begin well and then lose their way?
I suppose there is no easy answer.
Joash’s weakness becomes clear after the death of Jehoiada.
Without his mentor, he cannot stand.
He had received the faith, but perhaps he had not made it his own.
He had been protected by holy people, but he had not become holy himself.
This can also happen to us.
Do not praise the day before sunset.
Do not praise a person before death.
The world is full of voices.
Some flatter us. Some use us. Some wait for the right moment to lead us away from the Lord.
But God also sends prophetic voices.
People who warn us. People who love us enough to speak the truth. People who help us return before it is too late.
A good beginning is a gift.
But it is not enough.
We must keep listening to the voice that leads to life.
We must keep choosing the Lord.
We must remain faithful to the end.
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.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).