(Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles)
 |
“Christ Cleansing the Temple”
by Luca Giordano c. 1670 |
Readings for Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Revelation 10:8-11
I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.
Then the voice spoke to me and said:
“Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, “Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Rv 10:8-11
The underlying purpose of John being given the scroll was to indicate that he is established as a prophet of God to both heaven and earth. The small scroll in this passage, according to Scripture scholars, predicts the final victory of God’s heavenly host in the battle to come between good and evil. That is the reason it tastes like honey. There will be many who suffer and die in this struggle which is why it sours in the belly (e.g. victory tastes sweet but the cost is difficult to bear Revelation 11:1-13). This same symbolism is used in Ezekiel 3:1 as the prophet takes the word of salvation to the people but many reject that word.
“'You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.'” This statement, applying four terms, serves as an introduction to the prophecies that follow against people and the whole world (cf. Revelation 12ff).
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
R. (103a) How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
Psalm 119 is a song of praise directed at the Law of Moses. In this longest of psalms dedicated to the love of the Law, the psalmist provides the image of “tasting” the Law of God. We note especially the sweetness experienced by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:3); the word of the Lord is sweet to those who receive it and understand.
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 19:45-48
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.
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.
--------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 19:45-48
Following the lament for Jerusalem, the Lord proceeds directly to the temple in Jerusalem and there displays 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 his teaching mission.
This episode, also captured in Mark 11:11, 15-19, Matthew 21:10-17, and John 2:13-22 with different emphasis for each, is best understood, according to scholars, in conjunction with the words of the prophet Malachi (Malachi 3:1-3). “And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek.” Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 synthesizing it with Jeremiah 7:11 as in St. Luke’s Gospel. This is done to create an environment of holiness in which his mission of prayer and teaching may continue.
CCC: Lk 9:45 554
--------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We are reminded of the story of the Princess Bride today. For those not familiar with the story; the heroine, Buttercup, falls in love with a farm boy who disappears for five years and is presumed dead. Buttercup is about to be forced to marry a local prince, who has evil intentions. Her “true love” shows up, now a pirate captain, and through improbable feats and with the help of some equally improbable friends, defeats the evil prince and the two live happily ever after. The story has a fairly standard sequence of events. The hero or heroine endear themselves to the reader. They are placed in peril, and, in the end, are victorious. Stories like these are fun to read because good defeats evil and there is a happy ending.
While the story of Jesus has a similar feel and flow, the story is much more complex, and we become a part of it. In other words, unlike a nice fiction story we can put down when the plot gets too intense, we find ourselves living our part of the story, and the plot has consequences for us.
We see the symbolism of this in St. John’s Revelation. The scroll, symbol of truth, prophecy, and knowledge, is given to St. John to be consumed, the sign of understanding and complete acceptance (think also about the Eucharist for us in this context). It tastes sweet in the mouth because the words of love and forgiveness are sweet to the soul. The eternal life promised is the happy ending, and we rejoice in that knowledge; how sweet it tastes.
But it sours in the belly. The path to salvation in this life is not simple. For many, that journey seems to be one test of faith after another. It has always been so, even for Jesus’ own Blessed Mother Mary, who from her earliest years was dedicated to God’s service.
For us too, along with our brothers and sisters in the Lord, the news of salvation is sweet on our lips. But the difficulty of walking that path in faith often causes us to feel that sourness, as the reality of the consequences is driven home. Today we pray that we may rejoice in the sweetness that is the knowledge of our eventual salvation, and our faith will overcome the sourness of sin and evil that we must pass through to achieve that final destination.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Christ Cleansing the Temple” by Luca Giordano c. 1670.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
No comments:
Post a Comment