St. Cecilia, Virgin  & martyr 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

 1 Maccabees 4: 3-37, 52-59*

 (…….) Then Judas and his brothers said:

“Our enemies are defeated, so let us go up and purify the Holy Place and consecrate it again.”   And all the army assembled and went up to Mount Zion. (……)  On the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev, in the year one hun­dred and forty-eight (164 B.C.)   they arose at dawn and offered the sacrifice prescribed by the Law on the new altar of holocausts which they had built. (……)

They celebrated the consecration of the altar for eight days, joyfully offering holocausts and celebrating sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise.   The front of the temple was adorned with crowns of gold and shields; the gates and the rooms had been restored and fitted with doors.

 There was no end to the celebration among the people, and so the profanation of the temple by the pagans was forgotten.  Finally, Judas, his brothers and the whole assembly of Israel agreed to celebrate the anniversary of the consecration of the altar annually for eight days, from the twenty-fifth of the month of Chislev, in high festivity.

 

1 Chr 29   We praise your glorious name, O mighty God. 

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 19: 45-48

 Then Jesus entered the Tem­­­ple area and began to drive out the merchants.   And he said to them, “God says in the Scriptures: My house shall be a house of prayer: but you have turned it into a den of robbers.”

 Jesus was teaching every day in the Temple. The chief priests and teachers of the Law wanted to kill him and the elders of the Jews as well but they were unable to do anything, for all the people were listening to him and hanging on his words.

 

Gospel Reflection：

“MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER.”

St. Cecilia was born to a noble family in the 2nd century and is one of the most venerated saints in Christian antiquity. She converted Valerianus her husband to Christianity and later his brother Tiburcius.

They lived at the time of Christian persecution, but the three of them remained courageous children of the faith. They served the poor and took responsibility of burying the bodies of Christians who were persecuted and killed for their faith.

Both Valerianus and Tiburcius also met martyrdom and not long after, Cecilia by a miraculous beheading kept her head attached to her neck.

Nothing in the life account of St. Cecilia mentioned about her connection to music. At best, this must have come from the line of a 5th century document about her martyrdom which states that “while the musicians played at her wedding, she sang in her heart to God.”

Her being patroness of music was further strengthened when the Academy of Music in Rome was opened in 1548 where she was made its patroness. On the whole, this one outstanding woman of faith we should ask to inspire us courage in our own life of faith.