22 November, 2019. Friday of Week 33
1st Reading: 1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59
How the temple in Jerusalem was rededicated, at the joyful celebration of Hannukah
Then Judas and his brothers said, “See, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” So all the army assembled and went up to Mount Zion.
Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built. At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. All the people fell on their faces and worshipped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering. They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and fitted them with doors. There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the Gentiles was removed.
Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.
Responsorial: 1 Chronicles 29:10-12,
R./: We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
Blessed are you, O Lord,
the God of Israel our father,
for ever, for ages unending. (R./)
Yours, Lord, are greatness and power,
and splendour, triumph and glory.
All is yours, in heaven and on earth. (R./)
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom,
you are supreme over all.
Both honour and riches come from you. (R./)
You are the ruler of all,
from your hand come strength and power,
from your hand come greatness and might. (R./)
Gospel: Luke 19:45-48
Jesus drives traders from the temple. The authorities want to kill him but are afraid of the people
Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”
Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.
Purifying the temple
The famous temple in Jerusalem needed to be re-consecrated, after being desecrated by the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. Almost two centuries later, Jesus cleansed the same holy sanctuary, that had been profaned by the traders who bought and sold there, as in a noisy market-place. We are invited to shape our lives and our church into a worthy place of prayer, a temple pleasing to God.
Jesus grieved over Jerusalem for failing to recognize its hour of grace. When he entered the temple and drove out the noisy traders, his objection was not to the sacrifices as such, but to the abuse of religion by merchants for financial gain and for too much formal ritual rather than true worship of God.
Purifying our own temple means making more space for God to be the guide of our lives. Our finances and our politics must be guided by justice and compassion. In this sense, we can bring every aspect of our daily lives–family and neighbourhood, work and recreation–into the temple to be purified and placed under God’s protection. This may require a conversion as radical as the cleansing of the temple. As we renew our attachment to God it will apply to us that, “My house is a house of prayer.” The full ideal is that God be worshipped by our whole heart and being.
Institutions need renewal, Jesus was angry that iInstead of being a house of prayer the Temple was used to serve the interests of its administrators only. Every human institution needs constant reform and renewal, and that includes our church too. The Sporot is always prompting us to renew our church so that it honestly serves God, rather than merely ritual purposes.
The church is always in need of renewal, because it is led by people who are imperfect, often prejudiced and closed to progress. We need to accept this as a given, and be open to repentance and renewal. This will often come at a high cost. After Jesus drove out the traders, the chief priests planned to do away with him. To resist renewal is to resist the grace of God. Our journey in life, both as individuals and in community, will always involve some cleansing, as we seek to do what God wants of us.
