Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

“The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus”
by Wilhelm von Kaulbach,1846

 
Readings for Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: 1 Maccabees 2:15-29
 
The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy
came to the city of Modein to organize the sacrifices.
Many of Israel joined them,
but Mattathias and his sons gathered in a group apart.
Then the officers of the king addressed Mattathias:
“You are a leader, an honorable and great man in this city,
supported by sons and kin.
Come now, be the first to obey the king’s command,
as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah
and those who are left in Jerusalem have done.
Then you and your sons shall be numbered among the King’s Friends,
and shall be enriched with silver and gold and many gifts.”
But Mattathias answered in a loud voice:
“Although all the Gentiles in the king’s realm obey him,
so that each forsakes the religion of his fathers
and consents to the king’s orders,
yet I and my sons and my kin
will keep to the covenant of our fathers.
God forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments.
We will not obey the words of the king
nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree.”
 
As he finished saying these words,
a certain Jew came forward in the sight of all
to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein
according to the king’s order.
When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal;
his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused;
he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar.
At the same time, he also killed the messenger of the king
who was forcing them to sacrifice,
and he tore down the altar.
Thus he showed his zeal for the law,
just as Phinehas did with Zimri, son of Salu.
 
Then Mattathias went through the city shouting,
“Let everyone who is zealous for the law
and who stands by the covenant follow after me!”
Thereupon he fled to the mountains with his sons,
leaving behind in the city all their possessions.
Many who sought to live according to righteousness and religious custom
went out into the desert to settle there.
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Commentary on 1 Mc 2:15-29
 
We are given the story of how Mattathias began his rebellion in defiance of the king’s order for all in that land to become apostate. He demonstrates his fidelity by not only defying the order to sacrifice in contravention of Mosaic Law but kills the first of the Jews in Modein who attempt to do so. He continues inviting all those in that town who are faithful to the Covenant of Moses to follow him and his family in rebellion against the king.
 
We are told that the area Mattathias and many of these followers fled to was “the desert: the sparsely inhabited mountain country southward from Jerusalem and west of the Dead Sea. It was an arid region with some perennial springs and a fair amount of rain in winter.” [4]
 
There are two basic lessons that come from this story.  First, the upright Mattathias and his kinsmen remained faithful to the Law of Moses in the face of adversity.  Second, they did so at great material loss, “leaving behind in the city all their possessions.”
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15
 
R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
 
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
 
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his justice;
for God himself is the judge.
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
 
“Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
Then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
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Commentary on Ps 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15
 
Psalm 50 recalls the sealing of the covenant with sacrifice. It gives praise to God remembering his promise to the faithful that he would be with them as long as they kept the precepts of Mosaic Law – their part of the covenant of Moses. “Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” This verse from the second strophe of Psalm 50 reminds us that God supports those faithful to him in their distress.
 
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Gospel: Luke 19:41-44
 
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
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Commentary on Lk 19:41-44
 
This lament for Jerusalem is found only in the Gospel of St. Luke. It is predictive of the destruction of that city in 70 A.D. by the Romans. “Jesus clothes his solemn words with the language and imagery of OT prophecy (Isaiah 29:1-3; Jeremiah 6:6; Ezekiel 4:1-3). Because Jerusalem has become a repeat offender, it will again suffer the devastation that befell the city in 586 B.C. with the Babylonian invasion.”[26] The clear meaning here is this event was a result of Jerusalem not accepting Christ the mediator of peace.

“Mystically: (St. Gregory the Great, Hom. In Evan. 39) Christ continues to weep for sinners who, like Jerusalem, run after evil and refuse to make peace with God. Their sins hide from their eyes the judgment that is coming; otherwise, they would weep for themselves. When it arrives, demons will besiege the soul and the Lord will visit them with his dreadful punishment.” [5]
 
CCC: Lk 19:41-42 558
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Reflection:
 
It is so much easier for us to be “flexible” when it comes to the precepts of our faith than it is to rigorously follow them.  It is easier to accept the hedonistic attitudes and mores that have become the societal norms than to speak out against them.  This hedonism is at the foundation of most of the actions that we as Christians are taught as being wrong, opposed to all our teaching.
 
Why, for instance, does society castigate the Church for her stand on the immorality of abortion and contraception?  Is it because they think we want to dominate the lives of others, as some claim?  No, it is because those who want abortion on demand and contraceptives to be handed out in schools believe that the human person is no better than an animal, unable to control their baser instincts.
 
At a very basic level, what the hedonistic society favors is simply a rejection of the idea that a person can or should control their urges and desires when it comes to sex. Ironically, as we are seeing in the media, they are not shocked when iconic producers, politicians, or other celebrities demonstrate this lack of control. It’s just too hard and therefore not something they care to do. They see abortion as a remedy for mistakes rather than the destruction of human life, and contraception as a preventive measure that allows uncontrolled sexual urges to be acted upon with impunity and without “biological” consequences. And the real consequence is the destruction of human dignity for those so objectified, cheapening the human spirit.
 
Christ looks upon this situation and weeps for those who cannot find peace because they will not accept the more difficult path.  He weeps, because, in their idyllic folly, they destroy the happiness they seek.  Indeed, the unrepentant will find worse destruction than Jerusalem did for rejecting the Son of God.
 
For those who embrace the sins of the flesh and refuse to turn away, we pray that God in his mercy will continue to call out to them through our example.  We pray that one day, before it is too late, they will see the destruction of the human spirit embodied in their attitudes and come home to the Lord.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus” by Wilhelm von Kaulbach,1846.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB Footnote for 1 Mc 2:29.
[5] Ibid.