Friends, welcome to Word on Fire, Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an

apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization, using media both old and

new to share the faith on every continent and to facilitate an encounter with

Christ and His Church. The efforts of Word on Fire engage the culture and bring

the transformative power of God's Word where it is most needed. Today we invite

you to join Bishop Robert Barron as he preaches the gospel and shares the

warmth and light of Christ with each one of us. Peace be with you. Friends, our

first reading from the prophet Jeremiah treats him a theme that is basic

throughout the Bible. I'm talking about the motif of the return from exile.

Like two great hinges on which the Old Testament turns are the stories of

Exodus and exile. Right? So early round in the Old Testament we find Israel is

enslaved in Egypt but God liberates the people and brings them to the

Promised Land. It's great active of freedom. Later we hear about the

northern tribes of Israel carried off by the Assyrians and later still the

southern tribes carried off by the Babylonians. So another kind of enslavement,

another kind of exile. And then throughout the prophets and the Psalms especially

once you get this theme in your head you're going to see it everywhere in the

Bible. But especially the prophets and Psalms we hear the call for and

prophesizing of a great return. A new Exodus the moment when all the tribes of

Israel would be gathered in and brought back home. That makes sense. Like

Exodus is the first great hinge and then the exile is the second hinge. A new

Exodus. So Jeremiah was writing at the time of the Babylonian exile.

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