Today's first reading is the recounting of what is called the Babylonian Captivity. The king of Babylon sacks Jerusalem and takes the leaders back to Babylon. The good news is that it was not a deportation of all the Jews. Even in some important areas like Hebron, it appears that the people were left alone.
More important to note is that when the Babylonians fell to the Persians and the people were free to return, not all of them did. Many of the Jews who had fled remained in their new homeland, and so the Jewish faith spread.
God used this tragic event to a good purpose. Evil committed by people who did not believe in God was still transformed by God into a way of spreading his word. Diaspora, the forced expulsion of the Jewish people from their homeland, has helped to spread the faith to ever wider parts of the world.
This is one more example of how God can take even sin and transform it. Even the actions of those who are acting consciously against God, can be transformed, used by God to help accomplish his will. This is why we are fearless.
We know that the ultimate will of God can not be thwarted. Even when the world seems unfair, when it seems that someone has gotten away with something unjust, or some wrong is being committed, we can remain free of fear and of anger, because we know that the God who is Justice, has it all under control.
