Fri., Nov. 20: 1 Macc 4:36-37, 52-59; Luke 19:45-48

And every day he was teaching in the temple area. Today’s readings center on characters demonstrating zeal for the temple. The first reading commemorates the institution of the feast of Hanukkah. The temple, having been occupied and desecrated by invaders, is regained by Israel. The joyful, eight-day celebration of its purification and rededication is to be remembered as an annual celebration. Jesus purifies the temple, too, by driving out those who have reduced it to a marketplace. Do we have this sort of zeal for our place of worship? Do we protect it from those who might like to use it as a multipurpose facility? Do we resist those who suggest we can legitimately, for convenience’s sake, hijack the liturgical assembly — people who have come to church to pray — to do business?

*For respect for God’s house and God’s people, we pray.