Speak Lord: Of hope

The first reading at Mass today speaks of the hope for a great reversal, so that the people taken into exile will be restored to their homeland.

The Lord says this:
Shout with joy for Jacob!
Hail the chief of nations!
Proclaim! Praise! Shout:
‘The Lord has saved his people,
the remnant of Israel!’

See, I will bring them back
from the land of the North
and gather them from the far ends of earth;
all of them: the blind and the lame,
women with child, women in labour:
a great company returning here.

They had left in tears,
I will comfort them as I lead them back;
I will guide them to streams of water,
by a smooth path where they will not stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my first-born son.

Jeremiah 31:7-9

Sadly in our day we are familiar with thousands again being driven to exile, suffering loss of home, employment, loved ones, security and hope.

The prophet assures there will be a time of restoration.

The theme is taken up in today’s Gospel where the once-blind Bartimaeus, sets out on a journey not to loss and exile, but following the Lord to holiness and wholeness.

• Pray for those who are lost or in exile
• Pray for justice and compassion amongst those who ‘receive’ them.
• Pray for restoration

Photo from Reuters, found here