Wednesday, November 22, 2023

23-NOV-'23, Holy Sorrow - Thursday of the 33rd Week in OT

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 500


Reading I

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.


Responsorial 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.


Alleluia

Psalm 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If today you hear his voice,

harden not your hearts.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel

Lk 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.”


Reflection 1

Catholic Daily Reflections


Holy Sorrow


“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.” Luke 19:43–44


Jesus spoke these words as He looked at Jerusalem from a distance, preparing to enter that holy city for the last time in preparation for His passion and death. As He spoke these words, the Gospel says that Jesus wept over the city. Of course, it wasn’t primarily tears over the future physical destruction of the Temple and invasion by Roman forces. It was first and foremost tears over the lack of faith of so many which was the true destruction He mourned.


As mentioned above, the city of Jerusalem was indeed sieged by the military commander Titus in the year 70 A.D. Titus was acting under the authority of his father, the emperor, and destroyed not only the Temple but also much of the city itself, as well as the Jewish inhabitants.


As Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem, so as to enter the Temple one last time to offer His life as the definitive Sacrificial Lamb for the salvation of the world, Jesus knew that many within this holy city would not accept His saving sacrifice. He knew that many within that city would become the instruments of His pending death and would have no remorse for killing the Savior of the World. And though this one point can easily be missed, it should be emphasized that Jesus’ reaction was not fear, it was not anger, it was not disgust. Rather, His reaction was holy sorrow. He wept over the city and its inhabitants despite what many of them would soon do to Him.


When you suffer injustice, how do you react? Do you lash out? Condemn? Get defensive? Or do you imitate our Lord and allow your soul to be filled with holy sorrow? Holy sorrow is an act of love and is the appropriate Christian response to persecution and injustice. Too often, however, our response is not holy sorrow but anger. The problem with this is that reacting in unholy anger does not accomplish anything good. It does not help us to imitate Jesus, and it doesn’t help those with whom we are angry. Though the passion of anger can be used for good at times, it becomes a sin when it is selfish and a reaction to some injustice done to us. Instead of this unholy anger, seek to foster holy sorrow in imitation of Jesus. This virtue will not only help your soul grow in love of those who have hurt you, it will also help them to see more clearly what they have done so that they can repent.


Reflect, today, upon your own approach to the evil you face in your life. Consider carefully your interior and exterior reaction. Do you mourn with love over sins you witness and experience? Do you mourn, with a holy sorrow, over your own sins and the sins of others? Work to foster this form of love within you and you will find that it can become a motivation for you to help transform the sins you commit and the sins of others you endure.


Reflection 2

One Bread, One Body


WILL YOU EVER DENY HIM?


“The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy came to the city.” —1 Maccabees 2:15


The Seleucid king tried to enforce an apostasy on the Jews. Roman emperors repeatedly tried to enforce apostasies on the early Christians. This continues to happen as Chinese Communists oppress Christians, terrorists brutalize Christians in several other nations, and secular humanists express their intolerance of Christians in the Western world. These many attempts to enforce apostasies will culminate in the mass apostasy led by the Antichrist at the end of the world (2 Thes 2:3ff).


We will not deny Christ if we are like Mattathias. He refused to be manipulated “in the slightest degree” by threats and bribes (1 Mc 2:22). He courageously “answered in a loud voice” that he would not be influenced by popular opinion (1 Mc 2:19). Mattathias and his whole family were united in their resolve to keep the covenant with the Lord (1 Mc 2:20). Mattathias was zealous (1 Mc 2:24) and willing to leave behind all his possessions in order “to live according to righteousness” (1 Mc 2:28-29).


Are you “apostasy-proof”? Will you withstand the pressure, or will you fold? Are you like Mattathias? Would you leave your lifestyle behind to save your life in Christ?


Prayer:  Father, I give up my life for Jesus (Lk 9:24).


Promise:  “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.” —Ps 50:14-15


Praise:  Pope St. Clement I wrote, “Only the Creator, the Father of the ages, the all-holy, knows [His gifts’] grandeur and...loveliness.”


Reflection 3

By Fr. Blas RUIZ i López

(Ascó, Tarragona, Spain)


“If this day you only knew what makes for peace”


Today, the image presented by the Gospel is that of Jesus who “wept over” (Lk 19:41) for the fate of the chosen city that did not recognize the time and visitation of its Savior. Knowing, as we do, the latest news about this city, it would be easy to apply this lamentation to the city which —is both— holy and a source of separation.


But looking beyond, we can identify this Jerusalem with the chosen people, which is the Church, and —by extension— with the world in which it has to carry out its mission. If we proceed like that, we shall find a community that, having achieved the highest summits in the field of technology and science, groans and weeps over the fact it lives surrounded by the selfishness of its members, because it has erected around it a wall of violence and moral disorder, and because it throws its children to the ground, dragging them with the chains of a dehumanizing individualism. In short, what we shall find is people that did not know how to recognize the God visiting them (cf. Lk 19:44).


However, we Christians cannot just be stuck with our mourning, nor can we be misfortune foretellers, but rather, men of hope. We know the end of the story, we know Christ has tumbled down the walls and broken the chains: the tears He is shedding in this Gospel anticipate His blood, which He has saved us with.


In fact, Jesus is present in His Church, especially through those who are more needy. We must assume His presence to understand Christ's tenderness towards us. St. Ambrose tells us that His love is so transcendental, that He has made Himself small and humble so that we can be great; He has accepted to be diapered like a newborn baby, so that we can be liberated from the chains of sin; He has accepted to be nailed to the Cross so that we can appear amongst the stars of Heaven... This is why, we must thank God and discover amid us He who visits and redeems us.


Prayers


My sorrowful Lord, You endured the sins of many. You were treated with cruelty and injustice. To all of these sins, including those that you foresaw, You reacted with the love of holy sorrow. And that sorrow led you to true compassion and concern for all. Please give me the grace to imitate this same love of Yours so that I, too, may share in the holiness of Your sorrowful heart. Jesus, I trust in You.


Lord, I love You but at times I fail to live that love fully.  I become so very distracted by things that mean little in the end.  Help me to regain my focus and to seek You with all my Heart.  Jesus, I trust in You.


Lord Jesus, you have visited and redeemed your people. May I not miss the grace of your visitation today as you move to bring your people into greater righteousness and holiness of life. Purify my heart and mind that I may I understand your ways and conform my life more fully to your will.

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