33rd Week, Friday, Nov 19
1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59 / Luke 19:45-48
Judas goes to Jerusalem; He purified and rededicated the Temple.
The story in today's reading describes the origin of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah. One Catholic writer made an interesting application of the feast to Catholic life. He said the condition of the Temple desecrated by the Gentiles is not unlike the condition of a soul desecrated by sin.
Moreover, the purification and rededication of the Temple resemble
the sacrament of Reconciliation. As the purification and dedication removed the
disgrace of the Gentiles, so reconciliation removes the disgrace of sin from
the soul.
***
To what extent do we see the sacrament of Reconciliation as
not only a purification but also a rededication of ourselves to God? “Come now,
let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like scarlet, they
may become white as snow.' Is 1:18
***
After his first military victories over the Syrians, Judas
Maccabeus wanted to restore legitimate worship. He had the desecrated Temple
cleansed and consecrated anew, rebuilt the altar, and offered the sacrifice in
accordance with the Law.
***
If we were asked what is the most significant item in the church, just what will our answer be? Would we say that it is the tabernacle, where the Sacred Species are kept? Or would we say that it is the crucifix, or the stained glass, or the statues? All these are certainly significant enough, but there is one essential item that makes the church a holy place and a house of prayer. It is none other than the altar. It may look rather ordinary, much like a table, but it is on the altar that the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. Without the altar, then there will be no sacrifice, and hence there will be no Mass.
In the 1st reading, we see how significant the altar was.
The people rose at dawn and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar of
holocausts which they had made. The altar was dedicated, and the people
prostrated in adoration, and they celebrated for eight days the dedication of
the altar, joyfully offering holocausts, communion sacrifices and
thanksgivings.
***
It was such a contrast in the gospel, wherein the Temple,
there was some selling and business going on, such that Jesus had to say that
according to scripture, the Temple is a house of prayer but some people had
turned it into a robbers' den. Let us remember these words of Jesus and let us
always have reverence for the House of God and for the altar of sacrifice. The
respect and reverence we show is also an indication of the faith and love we
have for God.
***
Jesus drove out the merchants from the Temple and it might
be a good time to ask ourselves: What has the Lord to drive out from us to make
us better Christians? What stands in the way of being closer to him in the life
of every day? What matters for us Christians is that we are attached to the Lord
and close to the people he has entrusted to us. Then, we can worship him with
our whole life.
***
Prayer
God our Father, we often turn our hearts into houses of
pride and greed rather than into homes of love and goodness where you can feel
at home. Destroy the temple of sin in
us, drive away all evil from our hearts, and make us living stones of a
community in which can live and reign your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, forever and ever. Amen