Homily for Friday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I (3)




Homily for Friday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I

Theme: JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE…..”My house shall be a house of prayer”

By: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA

 

Homily for Friday November 19 2021

*READINGS OF THE DAY*
1 Maccabes 4:36-37,52-59
1 Chronicles 29:10-12
Luke: 19:45-48

*INTRODUCTION*
In our Gospel passage today, we then heard a related account of the Lord Who came to the Temple of Jerusalem, the same Temple that was liberated by the Maccabees just less than two centuries before the time of Christ. Ironically, at that time, the Lord Himself came to Jerusalem and drove out the many merchants and money changers who had taken up office in the courtyards of the Temple with the collusion and cooperation with the chief priests of the Temple of God.

*WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO CLEAR THOSE PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE TEMPLE?*
Its becuase many of them acted dishonestly and cheated the innumerable pilgrims and the other people who came to worship the Lord at His Temple. They overcharged the people and sold their products or exchanged the money for the pilgrims at high profits.
The Lord chastised all those who had corrupted and defiled the holy House of God, and reminded them that it should remain holy and worthy. And this is a reminder to all of us that we must also keep ourselves holy and worthy and not defile ourselves with the corruption of sins of the world.

*THE QUESTION IS WHY IS THAT SO?*
That is because we ourselves are the Temples of God’s Holy Presence, the dwelling place of the Lord Most High, as we have partaken in His Most Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit has also descended upon us and dwelled in us. As such, God Himself dwells in us and as a result, all of us are also, the ‘Houses of God’. And if the Temple of God in Jerusalem had been made clean and holy, purified and worthy for God, then all of us must also make sure that our lives and actions are worthy for God.

*CONCLUSION*
That is the most important takeaway we have from today’s Scripture readings, and we have to strive to keep ourselves wholly dedicated to God, to keep His Law and commandments that He has given us through His Church, and live our lives as holy and worthy as possible. Let us all also inspire one another in being faithful so that we may be good role models and examples for one another, and serve the Lord faithfully together as one people, one community and one Church.
MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND!

Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA

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