Offer to God Praise as Your Sacrifice"
Today's Mass Readings
(Today's reflection is based on the ordinary readings of the day and not on the readings for Thanksgiving.)
In today’s gospel, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, knowing what was to befall the people there. Jesus recognizes that the people do not appreciate his presence as God in their midst, and, yet, as he continues his trek toward his passion and crucifixion, Jesus’ emotions are roused to the point of tears. How powerful this is, to think of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem! Especially when you consider that Jesus was facing his own death and all the injustice and suffering preceding that death. Yet he does not weep for himself, but for the city, for the people, including us today. Meanwhile, the first reading continues the dramatic story of Maccabeus, as the Jews are asked to sacrifice to the pagan gods of the king who rules over them. Even in the face of numerous earthly rewards and the friendship of the king, Matthias and his sons cannot succumb to this pagan ritual and forsake the Lord God. So as today’s passage closes, Matthias runs through the street calling for those who will not abandon the covenant to come with him into the desert. And so committed was Matthias and those that followed him, that they left all their possessions in the city. Righteousness and religious custom were more important to them to the creaturely comforts that the corrupt city offered to them. Such a heroic action may appear to us as impossibly difficult, yet for Matthias it seems to come naturally. Might this be explained by the solidity of his faith that preceded the advent of the king? In other words, while others were conforming to the society around them, Matthias continued practices of Judaism, standing strong to the faith of his people. This formation over time prepared him to meet this enormous challenge.
Such formation is not possible without the grace of God and our cooperation with that grace. When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he might have been reflecting on all that God had done for the people of that city – from leading them out of slavery in Egypt, to bringing them to the land of Canaan, to allowing them a kingdom… and yet the people continually stumble, fall, and fail miserably at keeping God’s commands. While some, like Matthias, are able to stand against evil, most of us struggle with sin and do not always succeed in holiness. Jesus weeps over this failure, but he does not stop there. Instead, the great love that brings on his tears and compassion also supports his willingness to undergo his passion and death. Jesus is willing to suffer with us, to take our sin and failings into his body.
May we always be thankful for this great sacrifice of love. Jesus died for us, that we may be redeemed. As we offer our prayers of adoration and thanksgiving, may we seek to be formed ever more fully in our faith, that we may stand strong against evil in our world and support our brothers and sisters in the faith.
- Maria Morrow