20230928 REBUILDING THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
28 September 2023, Thursday, 25th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Haggai 1:1-8 © |
'Rebuild the House'
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord was addressed through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, high commissioner of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as follows, ‘The Lord of Hosts says this, “This people says: The time has not yet come to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. (And the word of the Lord was addressed through the prophet Haggai, as follows:) Is this a time for you to live in your panelled houses, when this House lies in ruins? So now, the Lord of Hosts says this: Reflect carefully how things have gone for you. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but never have enough, drink but never have your fill, put on clothes but do not feel warm. The wage earner gets his wages only to put them in a purse riddled with holes. So go to the hill country, fetch wood, and rebuild the House: I shall then take pleasure in it, and be glorified there, says the Lord.”’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 149:1-6,9 © |
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in its Maker,
let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music with timbrel and harp.
For the Lord takes delight in his people.
He crowns the poor with salvation.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
shout for joy and take their rest.
Let the praise of God be on their lips:
this honour is for all his faithful.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn14:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 9:7-9 © |
'John? I beheaded him; so who is this?'
Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was being done by Jesus; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. But Herod said, ‘John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus.
REBUILDING THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Hag 1:1-8; Ps 149:1-6, 9; Lk 9:7-9]
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, King Cyrus of Persia granted permission to 50,000 Jews exiled in Babylon to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. Under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and Joshua the high priest, they tried to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. During the second year of their return, they managed to lay the foundation of the temple. The altar was re-established but the work of rebuilding the temple was slow because they faced opposition from the Samaritans. As a result they were unable to finish their work as their enemies hindered the reconstruction. For the next 15 years, no further work was done on the Temple. The people felt disheartened and discouraged. They became spiritually apathetic and gave up on the project.
It was within this context that God dispatched two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people to put more effort, time and resources into the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem. Haggai challenged the people to keep their focus right. He asked them, “Is this a time for you to live in your panelled houses, when this House lies in ruins?” Indeed, how could the people live in luxury whilst the Temple of the Lord was in ruins? Instead of rebuilding the Temple of the Lord, they were only interested in rebuilding their homes. Their own houses were adorned with beautiful cedars while the Temple was lying in ruins. This was inexcusable because the Temple was supposed to be the centre and focal point of their relationship with God.
As a consequence, the Lord warned the people for not putting God as the centre of their lives and their priority. “Reflect carefully how things have gone for you. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but never have enough, drink but never have your fill, put on clothes but do not feel warm. The wage earner gets his wages only to put them in a purse riddled with holes.” Because God was not the centre of their lives, as seen in their priorities in allocating their resources and time, what they did were not successful. Their hard work did not produce the fruits that they expected. No matter how much they ate or earned, they could not have their fill. This was because the foundation of their lives was missing.
This is true for us even today. How many of us put God as the centre of our lives? Is God the most important consideration in all that we do or say? Is He the foundation of our life? Have we taken seriously what the Lord said, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mk 12:29f) If God were the centre of our lives, then we would give Him preference above all other things. But the truth is that other things and people take precedence over the Lord. We give priority and importance to our loved ones, spouse and children. We take care of our own material needs and comfort before thinking of our Lord. We pay lip service to our love for God. We claim that He is the most important person in our lives, but we hardly spend time to worship Him, pray to Him or listen to Him. He seems to be the last person in our lives. We come to Him only when we are in need or in trouble. Otherwise, God is far from our hearts.
Even in giving an external place to God, many of us fail to show that respect and consideration. Many of our churches are in ruins and in a sorry state, but many of our Catholics do not care about the church, the House of God, even though they are living in luxurious houses. They contribute little of their money to build the church but spend millions on their homes. They spend much money decorating their house but they do not give prominence to the altar in their homes.
When we do not put God as the centre of our lives, then this is where all our problems begin. By failing to teach our children to honour God as the foundation of everything, they begin to worship their studies, their achievements, their jobs and careers. They put their enjoyment, pleasures and interests before their spiritual life. When God is out of the picture and worldly values take over, they can never be truly successful in life. They might be doing well materially, have a great career and possess many things of this world, but their lives are empty. There is division in the family, because of the lack of Christian values being promoted by their parents. They do not speak about forgiveness, tolerance, compassion, understanding and generosity. Instead, they speak of their rights and having things their own way.
When God is not the centre of our lives and the gospel has no place in our relationships and family life, the world’s values will take over. For this reason, as the prophet says, we too will be like the Jews who lost the blessings from God because they were living self-centred and worldly lives. They showed little interest in the vision of God for the world. When God has no influence in our lives, at home or at work, then we can expect to lose the blessings of God in all that we do. However hard we work, we will have less because greed and selfishness will destroy whatever we have gained. When God is not the centre of our lives, even with all our material wealth, we will find life rather empty and unfulfilling. Caring for our physical needs whilst neglecting our relationship with God will ruin our happiness in life.
However, if we put God as the centre of our lives, then we can expect to receive His blessings. With God, we learn how to appreciate all things in perspective. We come to value things as means for love and service and not as ends in themselves. We will put relationships above achievements and success. Unless we put God’s work and His Kingdom as the highest priority in our lives, we will not be able to enjoy life properly. That is why the Lord taught us, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” (Mt 6:31-34) What we set as our priority manifests how much we love God, not so much in words but in actions.
We must take a page from Herod. He did not put God as the centre of his life. Instead, he put Herodias as the centre of his life. Caught in his adulterous relationship with Herodias, he lost his focus and ended up doing things against his wishes, like killing John the Baptist. For that, he was haunted by his conscience for killing a holy man of God. Thus, when he heard “about all that was being done by Jesus; and he was puzzled.” Then “some people was saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life.” The mention of John the Baptist unsettled him. “But Herod said, ‘John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus.”
If we do not want to live with a guilty conscience and with doubts about Jesus, then we must search for Jesus and come to know Him. We must make Jesus the goal of our life. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Instead of hearing rumours about who Jesus is, we are called to find out for ourselves. How can this be done unless we rebuild the House of God in our hearts? The Lord said, “So go to the hill country, fetch wood, and rebuild the House: I shall then take pleasure in it, and be glorified there, says the Lord.” In other words, let us put Him first in our hearts once again. Let all we have be used for the glory of God, whether it be used to build a physical House of God, or the spiritual house of God or for the extension of His kingdom on earth. All that we have must be returned to the Lord and be used for His glory, His mission and for the salvation of humanity. In this way, we will be blessed in and through Him for we will find true peace, joy and love. He will then provide us our deepest needs, that which will truly make us happy and fulfilled in life.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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