Judas and his brothers said, “Now that our enemies have been crushed, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it.” So, the whole army assembled, and went up to Mount Zion…. On the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had defiled it, on that very day it was reconsecrated with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals. All the people prostrated themselves and adored and praised Heaven, who had given them success. (1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 54-55)
Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. (Luke 19:45-46)
Piety
Lord, help me to examine my interior life and to restore and renovate it to holiness where needed.
Study
The story in today’s first reading is only one of many similar stories dotting the history of God’s people. Israel was but a tiny, tiny piece of the world of the ancient Near East, no match for greater powers. Today’s reading recounts events about 150 years after Alexander the Great had conquered Judea. Alexander the Great’s empire had been divided and Judea had come under the control of the Seleucid Empire. A ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, came to power, who hated the Jewish people and tried to forbid any practice of Jewish law. He captured the city of Jerusalem and plundered the Temple. He killed numbers of the Jews. Then, in 168 BC, he allowed pagan sacrificial rites to take place in the Temple of the Lord. He outlawed Jewish observance of the Sabbath. He tried to force the Jewish leaders to sacrifice to pagan gods.
Under Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, the Jews staged a revolt against all these abominations. In today’s reading, we see that, against great odds, they have succeeded! And now it is time to clean up the damage and make the house of the Lord holy once again. The eight days of celebrating that took place were the origin of the Festival of Lights or Hanukkah, which is celebrated every year to this day.
In the Gospel reading for today, fast forward and we are again in the Temple and it is again in need of cleaning out. This time the desecration comes not from pagans but from livestock purveyors and money changers. The problem isn’t the fact that there were money changers or people selling animals. They were needed because people came to Jerusalem from other places, carrying Greek or Roman coins that were not acceptable in the Temple. So, someone needed to serve as a money exchange and provide Jewish coins. And people had to buy animals to sacrifice. But the poor were being gouged and the scene was anything but holy. Jesus wasn’t about to stand for such desecration. So, he drives them all out.
Action
So, what does all this cleaning out and starting over have to do with you and me? In more than one place in his writings, the apostle Paul tells us that we are now temples of God. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16) For we are the temple of the living God; as God said: “I will live with them and move among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. (2 Cor 6:16)
What do we do in places of worship? We pray and worship together. We are reminded of and strengthened in our unity in the Body of Christ through the Eucharist. We are sent forth to love and serve our brothers and sisters.
When we examine the state of our inner temple, these might be places to start. How is my prayer life? Have I neglected it lately or is it blooming? Do I see myself as a part of the Body of Christ? If so, do I go to church and worship with the rest of the Body or have I been negligent about that? Does my faith lead me to care for God’s other children, especially those in need?
If the answers have you realizing that some renovation and renewal is in order, there is no time like the present! Advent is right around the corner and it would be good to start the new liturgical year with a spruced up interior life.
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