Các
bài đọc hôm nay nhắc nhở chúng ta về việc chuẩn bị và sẵn
sàng tâm hồn chúng ta. Chúa Giêsu đã thanh tẩy Đền Thờ vì Đền thờ là ngôi nhà của
Chúa Cha, cha Ngài, là một nơi dành cho việc cầu nguyện,
tế lễ để vinh danh Thiên Chúa, chứ không phải là chỗ đễ cho các việc
kinh doanh buôn bán, bóc lột. Chúa Giêsu thanh tẩy đền thờ và
giờ đây Ngài cũng
muốn chúng ta phải thanh tẩy đền thờ trong tâm hồn
chúng ta, vì mỗi
người chúng ta là đền thờ riêng cho Chúa ngự trị.
Trong một bồi cảnh gợi nhớ
đến sự dâng hiến đền thờ Solomon ban đầu của 800
năm trước (1 Các Vua 8), Dân
Chúng thời Tiên tri Maccabees tái cung hiến Đền Thờ và
họ đã hân hoan, ăn mừng ngày lễ trong tám ngày. Cho đến này, Mặc
dù đền Jerasalem không còn nữa, nhưng mỗi năm, người Do Thái vẫn còn
nhớ đến kỉ niệm ngày cung hiến đền thờ này khi họ ăn mừng lễ
Hanukkah trong tám ngày. Chúng ta cũng là đền thờ của Chúa
Thánh Thần, Trong cuộc sống hàng ngày, chúng ta phải tự nhắc nhở
và nhớ rằng Thiên Chúa đang ở trong chúng ta. Cách mà giúp
chúng ta được thanh tẩy là hãy đến với Chúa trong bí tích Hoà giảì, để
chúng ta làm hoà với Thiên Chúa để chúng ta được thánh tẩy và thánh hoá tâm hồn
của chúng ta, nơi mà Thiên Chúa hằng ngự trị mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng
ta.
Lạy Chúa, xin hướng dẫn lời nói
và việc làm của chúng con ngày hôm nay và mỗi ngày trong đời
của chúng con để chúng con có thể dâng lên Chúa những lời
ngợi khen, tôn kính và phục vụ.
Reflection: Lk. 19:45-48)
For
what do you prepare in life — an important exam, the start of a new year, the
birth of a child? Today’s readings are about preparation. Jesus cleanses the
Temple. The Temple is his Father’s house a place meant for prayer
and not for business. Jesus cleanses the Temple at this time because he is
about to teach there. His teachings are received most deeply when they become
part of our prayer.
In the first reading, the Jewish Maccabees retake control of Judea from the
Seleucid Empire. They arrive at the Temple and see that this sacred place has
been neglected and desecrated. The people are disturbed by this sight but they
purify the site, build a new altar and eventually make the Temple a place where
God is worshipped again. In a scene that is reminiscent of the original
dedication of the Temple by Solomon 800 years before (1 Kings 8), the Maccabees
now rededicate the Temple. The people rejoice for eight days.
Each year, Jewish people still remember this rededication as they celebrate
Hanukkah for eight days. We are also a Temple of the Holy Spirit. In daily
life, what or who helps us to remember that God dwells within us? Is there
anything from which we desire to be cleansed?
Lord,
guide my words and deeds today so that I may give You praise, reverence and
service.
Friday 33rd
Ordinary Time 2023
And
every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes,
and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but
they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were
hanging on his words. Luke 19:47–48
Jesus had just entered Jerusalem for the upcoming Feast of
Passover. He arrived in that holy city and then returned again the next day and
entered the Temple area. As He witnessed the corruption of those selling animals
for the Temple sacrifices, Jesus responded with fervent preaching in an attempt
to cleanse the Temple from this corruption. He quoted the Prophet Isaiah and
cried out, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have
made it a den of thieves.” Luke’s Gospel points out the reaction of the
chief priests, the scribes and the leaders of the people. They were “seeking to
put him to death.” However, as the Gospel further relates, “they could find no
way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his
words.”
It’s important to consider this passage within its context. The
words that Jesus spoke were words that sought to cleanse the Temple of
corruption. With the approval of the temple priests, who benefitted from the
temple tax, there were many people who were using the practice of divine
worship to make a profit for selfish gain, turning the Temple into a
marketplace. Jesus could see this clearly, and many of the people would have
also sensed the corruption of these practices. Though they needed to purchase
animals for the ritual sacrifices and Passover meal, many of them were most
likely disturbed by this abuse. Therefore, as Jesus spoke with fervor and
condemnation, it angered those who were responsible for the corruption but left
the people with consolation. Hence, they were “hanging on his words.”
The Gospel is always consoling, and, for those who are open, it
leads them to hang on every word that is spoken. It refreshes and invigorates,
clarifies and motivates. Usually when we think of the Gospel, we think of words
that are gentle and inviting—words of mercy to the sinner and compassion for
those who are struggling. But sometimes the pure Gospel message from our Lord
fiercely attacks sin and evil. And though this may be shocking to the evil
doers, to those with pure faith, these words also refresh and strengthen.
Today, we need the full Gospel message. Many need to hear Jesus’
gentle invitation to conversion by which their heavy burdens are lifted. But
many others need to hear His firm words of condemnation. And the Church as a
whole needs both of these messages to be proclaimed if we are to fully
participate in the apostolic ministry of our Lord. Only our Lord has the right
to condemn, chastise, and call others to repentance. But we are all called to
share in this mission of our Lord. And though we do not have the right to judge
the hearts of others, when we see objective evil and disorder within our world
and even within our Church, we must cry out with our Lord, “My house shall
be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And when we
do hear the holy and inspired words of God’s messengers who boldly and
courageously proclaim the truth and call others to repentance, it should
inspire, invigorate and console us as we find ourselves hanging on their every
word.
Reflect, today, upon the Gospel messages that need to be preached
in our day and age that are both inspired by God and are also fervently
directed at corruption within the world and even within our Church. Allow
yourself to support such holy preaching and to be inspired by it. Hang on these
holy words of God’s prophets today. As you do, God will protect them and
inspire them to continue His holy mission of purification.
My purifying Lord, the corruption within our world, and at times
even within our Church, requires Your holy preaching and purifying action.
Please send Your messengers to those in need so that all may be cleansed as You
cleansed the Temple. May I share in this mission in the ways in which You call
me, and may I always hang on every word spoken from Your merciful and fervent
heart of love. Jesus, I trust in You.
Friday 33rd
Ordinary Time 2024
Opening
Prayer: Lord God, I have been washed clean through
Baptism and crafted into your temple. May I always be a holy dwelling for you
in this world. My heart is yours. Reign in my heart always, guide my steps, and
empower my good works.
Encountering
the Word of God
1.
The Cleansing of the Temple: Jesus’ dramatic
expulsion of Temple merchants is both a prophecy and a pre-enactment of the
Temple’s imminent downfall (Luke 21:5-36). When Jesus entered the Temple, he
saw the corruption permitted by Caiaphas, the High Priest. Instead of
continuing the practice of pilgrims purchasing animals at a market on the Mount
of Olives, Caiaphas permitted vendors to sell animals in the outer court of the
Temple itself, known as the Court of the Gentiles. By driving out the sellers,
Jesus brings to fulfillment a prophecy of Zechariah: “No longer will there be
merchants in the house of the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 14:21; see
Gadenz, The Gospel of Luke, 330). The old Temple is passing away
and, as we read in the First Reading, will one day be destroyed. Jesus, by
contrast, is the New Temple, a place where we can enter into communion with God
and receive divine instruction.
2.
The Prophecy of John: In our reading of the Book
of Revelation, the liturgy skips from John’s vision of the heavenly liturgies
of creation and redemption in chapters 4 and 5 to John’s vision of a mighty
angel in chapter 10. In Revelation 8-11, John contemplates the destruction of
an earthly city, Jerusalem, that causes God’s temple to be opened in Revelation
11:19. In the First Reading, from Revelation 10:8-11, John is commanded to eat
a scroll, much like the prophet Ezekiel did centuries before (Ezekiel 3:1-3).
The scroll is sweet as honey at first, but then sour: “That the scroll then
becomes sour, may be an allusion to Ezekiel as well, since after eating the
scroll Ezekiel is told to foretell the coming destruction of Jerusalem and goes
out in ‘bitterness’ (Ezekiel 3:14). In the same way, John proceeds in the next
chapter to announce the destruction of the city ‘where the Lord was crucified,’
i.e., Jerusalem” (Barber, Coming Soon, 136).
3.
How Sweet to My Taste is Your Promise: The
Responsorial Psalm today invites us to see God’s law, promises, word, and
decrees as more delightful and valuable than earthly riches, more precious than
gold and silver, and sweeter than honey. This is because the Law of the Lord
makes a person wise (Psalm 119:98-100, 104). “Psalm 119 reminds us that the Law
of God – whether summarized in the Ten Commandments, the Double Commandment of
Love, or the Sermon on the Mount – is not burdensome drudgery but a path to liberty
and to life” (Bergsma, Psalm Basics for Catholics, 133). Another
lesson of Psalm 119 is that suffering is the means by which one truly comes to
learn God’s statutes. During our suffering and affliction, we are asked to
persevere and endure righteously and trust in the Lord to deliver us (see
Barber, Singing in the Reign, 129).
Conversing
with Christ: Lord Jesus, you called your Father’s will your
food. I, too, desire to be nourished by this food. Help me to know your
Father’s will for me in every moment. Give me the strength to accomplish it.
Friday 33rd
Ordinary Time 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord, help me to value not only the sacredness of my own
person, but also the sacred space of the parish where I worship you in the
Eucharist. Grant me a deeper consciousness of your continual presence.
Encountering Christ:
1. A House of Prayer: Over and over again in the Gospel accounts we see Jesus
going off to pray in silence, preach in the synagogue, and go to the temple for
worship. His attitude was obvious: he honored his Father and had a deep
awareness of the sacred space of his own person and in places of worship
reserved for the Father’s honor and glory. Jesus was so very conscious of his
Father’s continual presence that he could enter the chamber of his heart alone
and be with his Father for long periods of time. How can we imitate Jesus in
his constant communion with the Father? How can we protect the sacredness of
our prayer time and our reverence for the church in which we worship?
2. A Den of Thieves: By virtue of original sin we are wounded and tend toward
concupiscence. Our souls, and even our church, can sometimes seem like a den of
thieves with attitudes, vices, and spirits that undermine our sacredness, our
intimacy with God, and our reverence for the house of God. Jesus asks us to
look intently at him and allow him to expose those interior spaces which
require renovation. He will do the heavy lifting if we allow him to show us
where we need to do the spiritual work.
3. Resistance or Openness?: The chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the
people didn’t accept the message and actions of Jesus and immediately dismissed
him as a radical and fanatic, without just reason. His listeners, however, were
amazed by Jesus and hung on his every word. Jesus fed their souls, their hopes,
and their lives. Every day Jesus is teaching in the temples of our lives. He is
accessible at daily Mass, in adoration chapels, and through the charity of
others we meet. We are called to be good “students” of the Master: to be
attentive to the message he wants us to learn each day, each moment. God plans
to give us all the grace we need to join him one day in heaven. All we need do
is pay attention.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to grow in the awe of the dignity and
sacredness of my person and allow that to translate into how I worship and
honor you in the life of the church. Help me to say no to all sin and
vice—those thieves seeking to steal my heart from you!
Resolution: Lord,
today by your grace I will pray in a place (whether at home or at church) where
I put all distractions aside so as to be fully present to you.
Friday 33rd
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, your Son Jesus pleased you by
safeguarding the sacred place of the temple. I also am a living temple of the
Holy Spirit. I believe that by the grace of your Baptism you dwell within me.
Help me to enter into this moment of prayer and speak with you who live within
me, heart to heart.
Encountering Christ:
Jesus Dwells in the Temple: Why would one go to the temple? It
was a sacred palace, unique and set apart, the place where God dwelt in the
Holy of Holies, and a place of worship and sacrifice to God. As a young boy,
Jesus called it “my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). With that same affirmation in his heart, Jesus came to the
temple to drive out those who were desecrating its purpose, those who would use
the things of God in their own name and for their own gain, those who would
misrepresent the face of God upon the earth. Jesus came to drive them out, for
his very mission was to reveal the face of the Father—the Father’s authentic
face, not how others would imagine him to be.
Driving Out Our Inner Thieves: In our own day, Jesus wishes to
purify our image of the Father, to “drive out” of the temple of our hearts
images of God that are misconstrued. There are thieves in our interior which
attempt to rob the faith, hope, and love that give it light, life, and a
future. Invoking the light of the Holy Spirit, we can ask him: Are there fears
or doubts which tug at my heart, keeping me from “letting go and letting God”?
Are there insecurities which make me believe I must earn my worth before God
and others, that my own perfection makes me worthy of him? Is there a
second-guessing in my heart which makes me think I must make myself loveable,
disbelieving that it is God himself who makes me loveable?
The Temple of Our Hearts: Just as every day Jesus was in the temple area, so
every day he dwells anew in our hearts to cast out the thieves and the robbers
and reveal the face of the Father. He awaits the acceptance of those who see
him. The scribes and the Pharisees were looking for a way to put him to death.
His overturning of tables was too threatening for them; it came too close to
undoing their self-made world order. But perhaps we can find our place among
the crowd, hanging on his every word. His words are spirit and life (Psalm 19);
may we allow them to speak truth and grace into our sacred, inner temple—our
heart, which is his preferred dwelling place.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, just as you came into the temple with
passion and enthusiasm to defend and claim what was your Father’s, remember
also that I am yours and come to my defense before the lies and doubts which
can sometimes plague me and those I love. You reveal that the name of God is
mercy, that his face is love and forgiveness and life. I wish to welcome this
grace into my life. Come, Holy Spirit, and speak your truth in these places
where I need it most.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will put my headphones aside
and renew some of my interior headspace for God.
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