20151120
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PURIFY THE TEMPLE OF CHRIST?
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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1 Maccabees
4:36-37,52-59 ©
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Judas and his
brothers said, ‘Now that our enemies have been defeated, let us go up to purify
the sanctuary and dedicate it.’ So they marshalled the whole army, and went up
to Mount Zion.
On the
twenty-fifth of the ninth month, Chislev, in the year one hundred and
forty-eight, they rose at dawn and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar
of holocausts which they had made. The altar was dedicated, to the sound of
zithers, harps and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on
which the pagans had originally profaned it. The whole people fell prostrate in
adoration, praising to the skies him who had made them so successful. For eight
days they celebrated the dedication of the altar, joyfully offering holocausts,
communion sacrifices and thanksgivings. They ornamented the front of the Temple
with crowns and bosses of gold, repaired the gates and the storerooms and
fitted them with doors. There was no end to the rejoicing among the people, and
the reproach of the pagans was lifted from them. Judas, with his brothers and
the whole assembly of Israel, made it a law that the days of the dedication of
the altar should be celebrated yearly at the proper season, for eight days
beginning on the twenty-fifth of the month Chislev, with rejoicing and gladness.
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Canticle
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1 Chronicles
29:10-12 ©
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We praise your
glorious name, O Lord.
Blessed are you, O
Lord,
the God
of Israel our father,
for ever,
for ages unending.
We praise your
glorious name, O Lord.
Yours, Lord, are
greatness and power,
and
splendour and triumph and glory.
All is
yours, in heaven and on earth.
We praise your
glorious name, O Lord.
Yours, O Lord, is the
kingdom,
you are
supreme over all.
Both
honour and riches come from you.
We praise your
glorious name, O Lord.
You are the ruler of
all,
from your
hand come strength and power,
from your
hand come greatness and might.
We praise your
glorious name, O Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.2Tim1:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus
Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed
life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong
to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they
follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 19:45-48 ©
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Jesus went into the
Temple and began driving out those who were selling. ‘According to scripture,’
he said ‘my house will be a house of prayer. But you have turned it into a
robbers’ den.’
He
taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, with the
support of the leading citizens, tried to do away with him, but they did not
see how they could carry this out because the people as a whole hung on his
words.
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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PURIFY THE TEMPLE OF CHRIST?
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 MC 4:36-37.
52-59;
CAN 1 CHRO 29:10-12; LK 19:45-48
The
gospel reading yesterday ended with a sad warning of the tragic end to the Jews
and the Temple of Jerusalem for failing to take cognizance of how their
corruption and lack of purity of worship will lead to their downfall
eventually. With deep regret and lamentation, Jesus said, “If you in your
turn had only understood on this day the message of peace! But, alas, it is
hidden from your eyes! Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise
fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on
every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the
ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you – and all
because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!” This
is the same warning given to us today as well. It will be worse; we will
witness not just the destruction of our churches, but the destruction of family
life, marriage institution, which is the bedrock of society, division, the loss
of moral values, disorder and chaos in society and the world, because of
extremists who are fundamentalists or secularists.
For
this reason, there is a great urgency, as today’s scripture readings invite us,
to purify the Temple of God. But what does it mean to purify the Temple
of God today? In the days of old, during the time of the Maccabees,
purification of the Temple of God was simply to purify the Temple of
Jerusalem. It was simply to ensure the purification of worship,
especially rituals and sacrifices. Beyond that, it was to ensure
orthodoxy that the Torah was faithfully kept by the people. And finally,
purification meant to ensure the purity of the race so that there would be no
pagan cultures, values and religious beliefs and practices to contaminate the
people. Indeed, this was what Judas and his brothers sought to do even to
the extent of destroying those who opposed or hinder them from practising their
faith as passed on from generation to generation. So after driving out their
enemies, they rededicated the Temple of Jerusalem with great rejoicing,
believing that “the reproach of the pagans was lifted from them.”
But
today, this would not be how we believe that the Temple of God should be
purified. Of course, we should still maintain and preserve orthodoxy in
teachings and beliefs, but we are also open to peoples of other religions, so
long as what they teach and practise reflect the truth of Christ, especially
when they live noble lives of love, service and compassion. Also,
we have gone beyond ritual purity and strict liturgical laws as the Church
today speaks of inculturation of what is good in the cultures of the people
even in worship. Today, in the Catholic Church, we recognize that there is
a diversity of expression of the same faith and hence the Church permits the
existence of different rites in the celebration of the sacraments and in
worship. Finally, no longer is the Church confined to a race but the
Church, being Catholic, welcomes all to the Church of Christ. Membership
is open to all, regardless of race, language or culture.
More
importantly, we would want to go along with Christ that what is most important
oday in the purification of the Temple is more of a spiritual and moral dimension.
Indeed, in the gospel, He came to purify the Temple of Jerusalem because the
people were merely observing the external practices of the religion but they
were living a life of hypocrisy, cheating, manipulating the poor,
oppression and greed. So what Jesus felt was needed was not
external cleansing but a spiritual cleansing. This was what Jesus did and
said. “Jesus went into the Temple and began driving out those who were
selling. ’According to scripture’ he said ‘my house will be a house of prayer.
But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.’”
Indeed,
this is surely the case for us all as well. What is needed most today is
to purify the Temple of Christ as He did with the Temple of Jerusalem by
helping our people to live a life of holiness and integrity. Without
holiness and integrity, there can be no real conversion or
evangelization. What the Church needs most is conversion of minds and
hearts; and a return to the gospel message of the Church, which is one of Good
News, rooted in love, compassion, forgiveness. This is what the worship
of God in spirit and in truth ultimately is.
Empty
and beautiful rituals and practices that pay lip service to God are of no use
but a cover up of the lack of a spiritual life. Indeed, often many
Catholics argue and fight over liturgical rules and practices in the Church,
often without charity and humility in the way they seek to restore what they
perceive to be the right things to be done in the Church. Ironically,
this liturgical battle within our Church has caused many from both sides, the
traditionalists and the more progressive, to become bitter and leave the
Church. What matters more in the Church is helping our people to live
lives of love and charity and forgiveness; and service in selflessness with humility.
Hence,
what is most needed, as Jesus tells us, is the conversion of hearts and minds,
beginning with the leaders of the Church, clerical, religious and lay.
They are the biggest stumbling blocks to renewal in the Church. In truth,
they are not bad people, just like the scribes and the Pharisees that Jesus
often lambasted. Church leaders very often have stayed long in the Church
and are conditioned by inherited traditions, the outdated theology that they
learnt many years ago in the seminary or in their theological studies and also
their experience in pastoral ministry. Some have become jaded, lost their
zeal and some wounded in the ministry. Some are proud of course, but also
insecure of their positions. As a result, many are blind even to their
sins of pride and insecurity. It is not that they do not want to change,
but they cannot see, like the blind scribes and Pharisees during Jesus’ day,
the need to make changes. They could only see things through their own
blinkers. For this reason, the people that really need conversion are the
leaders. Indeed, in the gospel, those who were against Jesus were not the
ordinary people because they “as a whole hung on his words.” But it was
the leaders who plotted to get rid of Jesus because they saw Him as a nuisance,
and a threat to the status quo and, most of all, the Jewish religion and
institution. This is what we read, “The chief priests and the scribes, with the
support of the leading citizens, tried to do away with him.”
So how
can any real conversion come about? As Jesus says, we need to make the
Temple into a house of prayer. The key to holiness is prayer, as Pope
John Paul II wrote in his apostolic letter, “At the beginning of the new
millennium”. We need to train our people in prayer, but most of all; we
need to make time for prayer. Without a deepening prayer life, vocal,
meditative and contemplative prayer, we will never be able to get in touch with
our real selves and most of all with God. But there can be no real prayer
without a love for the Word of God. Like the Jews, do we hang on His
words? We need to strengthen our prayer and relationship with the Lord by
learning how to meditate and pray the scriptures daily so that we could grow in
understanding of His will and also find inspiration, encouragement and
direction in every area of life. Without a deep love for the Word of God,
our prayers will remain shallow and sentimental. The way to
encounter God is through the head and then move to the level of the heart so
that we move from thinking to feeling and being. In intimacy, we find
strength, consolation and His presence. Lastly, for a real conversion of
life, we must be ready to make sacrifices for the love of God and our
fellowmen. In the first reading, we read how the faithful Jews were ready
even to give up their life for the preservation of the faith and their culture,
so much so that they would do anything to ensure that God is glorified in all
things. We too are called to re-dedicate ourselves just as the Maccabeans
re-dedicated the Temple anew to God. We are called to consecrate our
lives to God for His glory through our communion with Him, in thanksgiving for
His love in the celebration of the Eucharist, our sacrifices of love and
charity towards others.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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