Saint Clement I, Pope, Martyr
Saint Columbanus, Abbot
Biographical Information about Saint Clement I, Pope, Martyr[1]
Biographical Information about Saint Columbanus, Abbot[2]
Readings for Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time[3]
Reading from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 1 Mc 4:36-37, 52-59
The battle against the Gentiles who were trying to destroy the Hebrew faith and traditions was started by Mattathias. In this passage it is won by his son Judas (who was called Maccabeus). This final victory in Jerusalem required the cleansing and rededication of the Temple. We hear a feast declared toward the end of the passage. That feast is celebrated by the Jewish people today as Hannukah, also called the feast of Dedication (John 10:22). Josephus Flavius calls it the feast of Lights.
Responsorial Psalm 1 Chronicles 29:10bcd, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd
R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
This great hymn of praise from First Chronicles directs our thoughts toward the power and majesty of God the Father. It rejoices in His omnipotent reign over all the earth.
Gospel Lk 19:45-48
Following the lament for Jerusalem yesterday, we find the Lord proceeding directly to the Temple in Jerusalem and there displaying his power and zeal for “His Father’s House.” He drives out the vendors who had set up business in the outer precincts so that he would have a purified place to continue is teaching mission.
Reflection:
Both the first reading from the First Book of Maccabees and the passage we are given from the Gospel of St. Luke deal with the same subject.; the purification of the Temple in Jerusalem. Sandwiched in between them is the great hymn of praise from First Chronicles, a song probably sung at some point, in that very Temple.
We reflect upon the struggle to keep our places of worship holy and undefiled. Of all the Christian denominations those of us who believe in the real presence in the Eucharist can best appreciate the sense of violation the Jews must have felt at the taking and defilement of the Temple in Jerusalem. There, in the innermost room, was kept the Arc of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence among them. To them it would have been the closest thing to God, a holy relic of the highest order.
When Christ came to us as a true man, he sacrificed himself and left us his body in the Eucharist. To those of us who believe in that great act of love, and who believe His words, that when we gather and re-offer the sacrifice he gave us, that he would return in the form of His Glorified Body and Blood. Once more his essence is among us and we are awed by so great a love. We reverence that wondrous mystery and the holiness it imparts to our sanctuaries and altars where the miracle takes place and above all, the tabernacles that hold the most sacred and Blessed Sacrament.
We can understand how Judas (Maccabeus) felt because we get the same kind of feeling when someone, not of our faith, comes into our sacred spaces and defiles them or is disrespectful of the glorious presence they contain. While we are sure the Lord wished for us to be happy, especially when he was so visibly among us, we also must remember that his presence is also a holy place, one where our worship takes place and our God resides.
We love it when, following the great celebration of the Mass, the congregation stays and enjoys the fellowship of their common faith. We must, however, be careful that this space is always given the respect worthy of the House of God.
Today we pray for the zeal of our Lord for His Father’s House demonstrated by our Savior. We pray that we shall always work to keep it holy, free from unsavory influences that would displease our Lord, of whose presence in that space we are always aware.
Pax
[1] The image of Saint Clement I, Artist and Date UNKNOWN
[2] The second image is Saint Columbanus, Artist and Date UNKNOWN
[3] After Links to Readings Expire
Saint Columbanus, Abbot
Biographical Information about Saint Clement I, Pope, Martyr[1]
Biographical Information about Saint Columbanus, Abbot[2]
Readings for Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time[3]
Reading from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 1 Mc 4:36-37, 52-59
The battle against the Gentiles who were trying to destroy the Hebrew faith and traditions was started by Mattathias. In this passage it is won by his son Judas (who was called Maccabeus). This final victory in Jerusalem required the cleansing and rededication of the Temple. We hear a feast declared toward the end of the passage. That feast is celebrated by the Jewish people today as Hannukah, also called the feast of Dedication (John 10:22). Josephus Flavius calls it the feast of Lights.
Responsorial Psalm 1 Chronicles 29:10bcd, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd
R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
This great hymn of praise from First Chronicles directs our thoughts toward the power and majesty of God the Father. It rejoices in His omnipotent reign over all the earth.
Gospel Lk 19:45-48
Following the lament for Jerusalem yesterday, we find the Lord proceeding directly to the Temple in Jerusalem and there displaying his power and zeal for “His Father’s House.” He drives out the vendors who had set up business in the outer precincts so that he would have a purified place to continue is teaching mission.
Reflection:
Both the first reading from the First Book of Maccabees and the passage we are given from the Gospel of St. Luke deal with the same subject.; the purification of the Temple in Jerusalem. Sandwiched in between them is the great hymn of praise from First Chronicles, a song probably sung at some point, in that very Temple.
We reflect upon the struggle to keep our places of worship holy and undefiled. Of all the Christian denominations those of us who believe in the real presence in the Eucharist can best appreciate the sense of violation the Jews must have felt at the taking and defilement of the Temple in Jerusalem. There, in the innermost room, was kept the Arc of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence among them. To them it would have been the closest thing to God, a holy relic of the highest order.
When Christ came to us as a true man, he sacrificed himself and left us his body in the Eucharist. To those of us who believe in that great act of love, and who believe His words, that when we gather and re-offer the sacrifice he gave us, that he would return in the form of His Glorified Body and Blood. Once more his essence is among us and we are awed by so great a love. We reverence that wondrous mystery and the holiness it imparts to our sanctuaries and altars where the miracle takes place and above all, the tabernacles that hold the most sacred and Blessed Sacrament.
We can understand how Judas (Maccabeus) felt because we get the same kind of feeling when someone, not of our faith, comes into our sacred spaces and defiles them or is disrespectful of the glorious presence they contain. While we are sure the Lord wished for us to be happy, especially when he was so visibly among us, we also must remember that his presence is also a holy place, one where our worship takes place and our God resides.
We love it when, following the great celebration of the Mass, the congregation stays and enjoys the fellowship of their common faith. We must, however, be careful that this space is always given the respect worthy of the House of God.
Today we pray for the zeal of our Lord for His Father’s House demonstrated by our Savior. We pray that we shall always work to keep it holy, free from unsavory influences that would displease our Lord, of whose presence in that space we are always aware.
Pax
[1] The image of Saint Clement I, Artist and Date UNKNOWN
[2] The second image is Saint Columbanus, Artist and Date UNKNOWN
[3] After Links to Readings Expire
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