Thursday in the thirty-third week

 

Invitation

May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?

This invitation wants to share with You the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, no one excepted,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.

Available every day.

Consideration
We read from the first Book of Maccabees the beginning of the revolt that will lead to religious and political autonomy (and a new dynasty).
In the city of Modin, Jews are urged to offer pagan sacrifices. Mattatja loudly resists this command. More than that, he strikes down a Jew who violates the divine commandment before his eyes. This is the signal of collective resistance. We look up to Mattatja and his heroic actions. And yet something bothers us today. Very coincidentally, the gospel catches a very different chord and turns some things upside down and we start musing. All due respect to Mattatja, but what haven’t believers, including Christians, done all over the centuries in God’s name? And what are they doing even now ?

 

FIRST READING                  I Makk. 2, 15-25,27-29

We remain faithful to the ancestral covenant.

In those days the royal officials came
whose job it was to force the people to apostate from the law,
also came to the city of Modin to offer sacrifices.
Many Israelites went to them,
but Mattatiah and his sons kept away.
The royal officials
therefore addressed Mattatja with these words:
“Thou art a man of authority in this city;
thou enjoyest honour and prestige
and have the support of sons and brothers.
Therefore be the first to step forward
to fulfil the king’s command.
All the nations have already obeyed it
as well as the Judeans,
especially those still living in Jerusalem.
Do ye what the king asks ,
then you and your sons
be included among the king’s friends,
then you and your sons shall be honored
with gold, silver and all kinds of other gifts.”
To this Mattatja replied in a loud voice:
“Even if all the nations in the kingdom obeyed the king ;
though all fell away from the religion of their forefathers
to conform to his commands,
i, my sons and my brothers
remain faithful to the ancestral covenant.
May God keep us from
denying the law and its commandments.
We will not obey the king’s command
and will in no way
deviate from what our religion commands us.”
Hardly had he said so,
when before all eyes a Jew stepped forward
to, according to the king’s command
to sacrifice on Modin’s idol altar.
When Mattatia saw this he ignited in fierce anger
and he trembled with indignation;
he gave free rein to his rightful wrath,
leapt forward
and struck the Jew down on the altar;
then he also killed the royal official,
who had come to force the people to sacrifice,
and destroyed the idol altar.
Immediately afterwards Mattatia marched through the city
and shouted in a loud voice:
“Whoever wants to show his zeal for the law
and stands up for the covenant, follow me!”
He himself and his sons
left goods and chattels in the city
and fled into the mountains.
At that time, many were
who wanted to live righteously and according to the law,
had fled to the desert
to settle there.

INTERLUDIUM                  Ps 50(49), 1-2, 5-6,14-15

He who walks straight paths finds the salvation of God.

The Lord, the God of gods, speaks,
He calls the earth from east to west.
His splendour shines from the Zion, the full,
He approaches, our God, and is silent no more.

Brings here all who are devoted to Me,
who have ratified My covenant with a sacrifice.
The heavens testify His righteousness :
it is God Himself who judges.

rather bring to God the sacrifice of your praise,
fulfil your vows to the Most High.
Then you may cry out to Me in tribulation;
I will save thee if thou worship Me.

 

ALLELUIA                 Jak. 1, 21

Alleluia.
Accept with meekness the word of God
which was planted in you
and has the power
to save your souls.
Alleluia

 

GOSPEL                       Lk 19:41-44

May you too on this day realise what makes you peaceful!

At that time Jesus approached Jerusalem
He let his gaze pass over the city
and wept over her while He said:
“May ye also this day see what is for your peace!
But now it is hidden from your eyes.
The days will come upon you
when your enemies will raise a rampart against you,
surround you and shut you in on all sides;
they shall smite thee down with thy children that dwell in thee
and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon another,
because thou hast not acknowledged the time
in which mercy was looked down upon thee.”

________________________________________________________

Laudato Si

Encyclical by

POPE FRANCISCUS

On caring for the common home

190. In this context, one must always remember that “protection
of the environment cannot be guaranteed solely on the basis of the financial calculation of costs and benefits. The environment is one of the goods
that market mechanisms cannot adequately protect or promote”.
Again, one should avoid a magical idea of the market that
tends to think that problems will only be solved with
the growth of corporate or individual profits. Is it
realistic to expect that those obsessed with the maximisation of
profits, pay attention to the effects on the environment he will leave for the
future generations will leave behind? Within the scheme of profitability
there is no place to consider the rhythms of nature, its times
of decay and recovery and the complexity of ecosystems that can be seriously
can be affected by human intervention. Moreover, one thinks,
when talking about biodiversity, think of it at most as a reserve
of economic resources that could be exploited,
but the real value of things, their significance for
people and cultures, the interests and needs of the poor, is not taken seriously into consideration.

To be continued
Every day at 1 am