{N}3,{/}14: This "letter of Ahasuerus," together with the other in chapter 15, is one of the best pages of the book.
One way of reading it is to see in it a model of what the totalitarian regimes and military dictators in all places and in all times think, say and write. Whoever for conscience reasons opposes those in power is a traitor to his country or to his people. The book shows how such totalitarianism turns into idolatry of rulers who are considered infallible. It must always be remembered that nations and their armies are only means of serving the international community and peace which requires that people and consciences be free. This letter targets the liberty of conscience of the Jewish people, a liberty which should not be less in Christians. It shows us why societies in the past with small regard for the rights of the human person - even when claiming to be Christian - could not tolerate Jews. For the same reasons Christians are persecuted or suffer many constraints today in countries where the majority are of another religion.
This letter can also be read in another way: we can see the tensions existing at that time between the Jews and the non-Jews. They made much of their solidarity with other Jews; the Law kept them apart and did not allow them a real companionship with their neighbor. And the end of the book will reveal the violence hidden under the humble trust of believers in their God.

{N}4,{/}12: In difficult times, there are always those in better positions who think about saving themselves or their jobs. They prefer to keep quiet instead of being in solidarity with those who are mistreated or deprived of their rights. Moreover, if they have more knowledge of religion, they know how to excuse their silence. That is why Mordecai insists on reminding Esther of her responsibility.
{C}Fast, pray to God for me.{/} Esther's great confidence in her people's prayers makes her willing to put her life in danger. Like Mordecai, Esther understands that God will not let his people disappear.

{N}15,{/}1: Note this paragraph where Ahasuerus is described as if he were a divine person. It is the same pagan king about whom Esther spoke with such contempt in the previous chapter.
This is why: the pagans obeyed their kings as if they were gods, and the Jews, instead of opposing them - which would have brought about their own persecution - praised them even more. Doing this was a sort of game for them because they were thinking: what my lips are saying about this king of Persia, I say to my Lord from the heart (see the same in Jdt 12:14).
This dialogue between Esther and Ahasuerus was written as a parable: Ahasuerus personifies the Almighty King who was won over by the sacrificial faith of Esther, and who welcomed her as a sister with a tenderness which she herself could not have forseen. God is the one who cannot bear to see Esther's anxiety and who grants her the salvation of her people.
With all this, we will more easily understand why the Church, in praising Mary, remembers words from the book of Esther: because, at Christ's side, Mary intercedes for us.

{N}7,{/}1: God helps those who ask, but we must always use human resources. Esther trusts God, but she uses prudence and the necessary tactics so as not to prevent what God is about to achieve.
History has demonstrated that those who persecute God's people never come out victorious.
We have no trouble seeing with what irony the author of this book depicts the great kings, with their whims and vanity.

{N}16,{/}1: In some way, this letter completes the first one we read in chapter 13. The king favors the Jews in the same irresponsible way he had earlier commanded that they be killed. But, naturally, it was not his fault: Haman was the one who had deceived the king. He finds no problem in decreeing the opposite of what he had decided shortly before. For him, this change is proof that he acts with much wisdom to correct errors of others.
Again, the author of Esther captures the stupidity and vanity of these great men who always try to convince their people that they are indispensable and that, without them, people would live in chaos. If the book of Esther aspires to show God's providence for his people, it also undermines personality worship and the official image created by the services of a dictatorship.

{N}9,{/}1: It is hard for us to understand that the awful things related in this chapter were done in the name of God and at the request of Esther, who seems to have been a pious woman.
The fact is that we are accustomed to think of religion in Christian terms and for us it implies love, even of enemies: but that is far beyond people who have not yet been touched directly or indirectly by the Gospel. Whenever people are convinced of being the unique people of God, let them be Jews, Christians or Muslims it is very difficult to refrain them from imposing their God - and themselves - on others. When someone has been chosen by God, it is very difficult for him not to believe he has rights that others do not have.
Thus it was that our forefathers in the faith were fanatical and violent. God's pedagogy is seen all throughout the Old Testament, but it seems that even God was not able to conquer violence at that time. The prophets themselves did very little to suppress the violence within their hearts in spite of their close relationship with God.
Solidarity and justice only counted inside the group, like everywhere in the world: regarding this point Jesus' words in Mt 5:46 are totally new. See Genesis 34 and the scandal when Jacob's daughter was raped; but there is no condemnation for the massacre that followed in which women and children were part of the spoils. The acknowledgment of universal love, of a neighbor who could be any person near me, and the non-violent religion where God himself accepts rejection are secrets that only the Son of God could teach us.

