The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary bring the
experience of Ezekiel into the vision of the author of Revelation. Ezekiel
tastes the Word of God and finds it sweet on the tongue but bitter in the
stomach. The episode in Revelation repeats this experience and the author is
instructed by the angel to preach the Good News to the whole world. Friar JudeWinker notes how we often hear the Word, like the psalmist in the texts today, with
joy and praise of God and how the living of the Word as disciples of Jesus
brings the cross which will be upsetting to mind and body. The Collect for the
Mass today petitions God to keep us from the adversity of mind and body which
deter us from pursuit of the things of God. Another aspect is the adversity of
mind and body which result from pursuit of the things of God. The Gospel of Luke
tells of Jesus chasing the merchants and money changers from the Temple. This
action was celebrated by the people who may have felt the commerce of the
Temple was inappropriate and even taking advantage of visitors. Jesus action inflamed
the authorities who administered the Temple and they resolved that Jesus must
die for His action. Friar Jude mentioned the political edge of Luke who was
writing as a Gentile to Gentiles. He desired to portray the followers of Jesus,
the common people, as good citizens of the Empire. The leaders of society from
in which Jesus lived were the trouble makers for the Empire. Luke wrote his
Gospel after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. A theme
of the Evangelist is that acceptance of Jesus was the opportunity missed by
Jerusalem which may have averted the destruction of the city.
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