My House shall be a House of Prayer"

Today's Mass Readings

In today’s first reading from the 1 Book of Maccabees, we read about the Temple’s rededication. This story about Juda Maccabee, is an important context for the Jewish feast of Chanukkah, which falls around Christmas time. Appropriately, sometimes in the early Church, the dedication of the Temple in today’s first reading, was viewed as foreshadowing Jesus’ birth. In fact, about a hundred years before the early Church transformed the pagan Roman holiday on December 25th, and Christianized it, having it instead celebrate the birth of Christ, Christians had already argued that that was the date of Jesus’ birth, not because of any Roman celebrations, but rather because it was the anniversary, so they believed, of the rededication of the Temple, which occurred on the 25th of Chislev, which they took to be December, the ninth month. Keep in mind, Passover began the year during the Jewish month of Nissan, so Chislev would be eight months after Passover, roughly Easter time, which, depending on the year, would fall about December time. So we can begin to understand the connection some early Church fathers made.

As Advent, and thus Christmas, are rapidly approaching, as we conclude this liturgical year, this makes today’s reading especially interesting. Jesus, in today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, cleanses the Temple, which, in many ways may be seen as a new rededication, since the Maccabees cleansed the Temple before it was rededicated to God. The Temple itself was an important religious location for Jews, because it was where the primary liturgies occurred, where God was worshipped. Jesus, according to Christianity, has replaced the Temple, and thereby transformed each of us into temples of the Holy Spirit, through our incorporation to Christ. We too, like the Temple of old, are often in need of rededication. Sometimes we defile our own temples of the Holy Spirit. At every reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and at every Eucharist, we rededicate our bodies to Christ. We rededicate our temples to the Holy Spirit, to God.

Let us recognize that we are called to be temples, dwelling places for God. The Temple of old drew people from all over the known world who desired to learn the wisdom of the one God. Let our lives be so radiant with the brilliance of Christ’s light shining within us, that others seek to know God better because of us. Christ’s light shines through us best when we are loving and when we serve others. Let our love and service shine forth so that we too may be witnesses to Christ.

- Jeff Morrow