＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

1 Maccabees 4:3-37, 52-59*

 (……) Then Judas and his brother 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(164B.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 the 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.

 

1Chr 29:10bed, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd

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：

The cleansing of the temple area occurs late in the ministry of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, after the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. For some time, Jesus tries to avoid the political and spiritual capital of His people.

He spends His time in the periphery. But His hour is fast approaching. He has to be in Jerusalem, the city of God when that occurs. And so, He went to the Temple like any ordinary pious Jew.

Previously, He never acted as aggressively as in this gospel today when He was in the temple precinct. What made Jesus angry this time? The same traffic and commerce happened before during His previous visits.

Is this a prophetic action? Or is it because He is now impatient because His time is short? Whatever reasons Jesus may have for His action, one thing is clear for us readers. The house of God is house of prayer.

Turning it into a trading house desecrates the place.