Sirach 47:24 "Their sins became exceedingly many, so as to remove them from their land."

This is an echo of the reading from two days ago in Bending to Bad Leaders. Sirach, like the reading from Baruch, is talking about the people going into exile because of their sinfulness. He is taking a broader view than we read in Baruch, though. In just a few lines Sirach leads us from David, to Solomon, to Rehoboam and Jeroboam, who caused "the people to revolt" and "Israel to sin" (Sirach 47:22-23). While Baruch was in the story, Sirach is looking back on it, putting the pieces together for his readers. Both come to the same conclusion, though: the Jews' failure to obey God, their sinfulness, caused their exile.

The same is true for us, individually, as a nation, and as a Church. If we know we have lost something wonderful; if we feel the empty longing for something that is missing; if we see everything going the wrong way in our lives, our nation, or the Church, then we are feeling this exile. It is a call to turn back to God and ask for forgiveness. Even if the "exceedingly many" sins that got us here are not our personal sins, we can still lament them, repent of them, and offer sacrifice to atone for them. And we can and must take a hard and critical look at our own sins, and repent and atone for them. We will suffer this exile as long as we are meant to. But eventually we will be led home, because "the Lord will never give up his mercy." (Sirach 47:22)