First reading for Mass today, Haggai 1:1-8:
On the first day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius,
The word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai
to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,
and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak:
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
This people says:
“The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.”
(Then this word of the LORD came through Haggai, the prophet:)
Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses,
while this house lies in ruins?
Now thus says the LORD of hosts:
Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;
You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated;
have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
And whoever earned wages
earned them for a bag with holes in it.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Consider your ways!
Go up into the hill country;
bring timber, and build the house
That I may take pleasure in it
and receive my glory, says the LORD.
We are not living in the historical conditions during which Haggai spoke: Israelites finally free to return to ruined Jerusalem, trying to rebuild their lives and supposedly committed to rebuilding the Temple. Yet the central paragraph speaks directly to people of every time and place, certainly to us. All of us can identify with “whoever earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in”!
For the Israelites and for us the difficulty is the same: keeping priorities straight. Putting the Lord first, not just of our preferences, but even of our needs. In the long run, only one thing is “necessary”–making sure my life is in alignment with God’s call to me. That is necessary. Everything else follows. Everything else is adjustable. Let us begin, again, today.