The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate the sweetness and sourness of our experience as followers of Christ.
The reading from the Book of Revelation is a vision of the Angel with the Small Scroll.
* [10:1–11:14] An interlude in two scenes (Rev 10:1–11 and Rev 11:1–14) precedes the sounding of the seventh trumpet; cf. Rev 7:1–17. The first vision describes an angel astride sea and land like a colossus, with a small scroll open, the contents of which indicate that the end is imminent (Rev 10).
* [10:9–10] The small scroll was sweet because it predicted the final victory of God’s people; it was sour because it also announced their sufferings. Cf. Ez 3:1–3. (Revelation, CHAPTER 10, n.d.)
Psalm 119 praises the Glories of God’s Law.
* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms, PSALM 119, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus Cleanses the Temple.
* [19:45–46] Immediately upon entering the holy city, Jesus in a display of his authority enters the temple (see Mal 3:1–3) and lays claim to it after cleansing it that it might become a proper place for his teaching ministry in Jerusalem (Lk 19:47; 20:1; 21:37; 22:53). See Mt 21:12–17; Mk 11:15–19; Jn 2:13–17 and the notes there. (Luke, CHAPTER 19, n.d.)
Scott McClure comments that as sweet as the Beatitudes are, there is - as John recounts today in Revelation - a sourness as well. The mourning may be comforted, but that of course implies sorrow. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness may be promised satisfaction, yet that implies a deep dissatisfaction will, first, be theirs. The persecuted may be blessed, but they will undergo suffering. This duality - sweetness and sourness - is recognized in the note on John's passage from today: The small scroll was sweet because it predicted the final victory of God’s people; it was sour because it also announced their sufferings.
Embracing the sweetness is easy; the suffering, not so much. I flee from suffering. I resist suffering. But no matter how quickly I flee, it is quicker. No matter how hard I resist, it pushes back all the more. Jesus would sympathize (Let this cup pass from me...). But Jesus' resistance does not win out, and nor should ours. Better than any, Jesus knew the sweetness of the Father's promise, and just as he embraced the promise of the Father, he embraced his cross. So for me today (and every day), the question - the challenge - remains:
I can hang on Jesus' words. Can I hang on my cross as well? (McClure, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The home of sanctity,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"God does not want his temple to be a trader's lodge but the home of sanctity. He does not preserve the practice of the priestly ministry by the dishonest duty of religion but by voluntary obedience. Consider what the Lord's actions impose on you as an example of living... He taught in general that worldly transactions must be absent from the temple, but he drove out the money changers in particular. Who are the money changers, if not those who seek profit from the Lord's money and cannot distinguish between good and evil? Holy Scripture is the Lord's money." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.17-18) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 19:45-48 comments that in just two days, we will celebrate the feast of Christ the King. What Luke shows us about Jesus’ first coming—both in his birth and in his arrival at the Temple—can help us encounter Jesus the King in our prayer. Just as he entered the world as a humble child and the royal city of Jerusalem as a prophet of transformation, Jesus wants to enter our hearts—humbly and with the promise of a new life.
Today in prayer, imagine yourself giving the keys to the “city” of your life to Jesus. Allow him to go straight to the “temple” of your heart and purify you. Such cleansing can feel uncomfortable, but remember, God is setting you free to worship him. He is setting you free from the things in your life that compete for his rightful place. He is setting you free to hear his teaching and to experience his love and his presence.
So don’t be afraid. Jesus, your king, has loved you to the end. Welcome him today.
“Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Purify me and set me free!” (Meditation on Luke 19:45-48, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler connects the sweet and sour taste of the scroll in Revelation to the wonderful proclamation of the Word and the consequences of judgement. As Jesus tears down the false aspects of the Temple, the leaders' loss of status and profit haste His Passion. Friar Jude reminds us to be aware of our response to changes that threaten our comfort.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces CAC teacher Brian McLaren who invites us to participate in a spiritual movement of the future instead of one that tries to return to the past. He asks “What would it mean for us if we happen to live during the decline of the old humanity, when a new humanity is in the painful, fragile process of being born? . . . What if the growth of the new movement, the new humanity, the new social creation or construction depends on the old one losing its hegemony?”
As I write those words, I can’t help but feel a flood of resonances with the Hebrew Scriptures. [1] I feel echoes of Isaiah, speaking of God doing a new thing, something fresh springing forth, so that there will be good news for the poor, recovery of sight for the blind, freedom for the incarcerated and oppressed. (Oppression of the poor is one of the hallmarks of the old humanity.) I hear the prophet imagining a promised time when weapons are recycled into farm equipment because nobody studies war any more. (War is one of the hallmarks of the old humanity.) I hear Ezekiel’s oracle about a new heart, a heart of flesh that replaces the heart of stone. (The hardening of hearts in the name of self-interest and in-group interest is a hallmark of the old humanity.) I hear Amos envisioning a time when a river of justice rolls down from the heights, filling the lowest places first. (A concentration of power and wealth at the top is a hallmark of the old humanity.) I hear Micah relativizing everything in his religion except doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly before God. (Hoarding power, loving money, and walking in racial, religious, or national pride are hallmarks of the old humanity.) (Rohr, 2022)
We are informed by the Spirit about our Christian heritage of love that is the foundation of life giving transformation in our relationships with God and each other.
References
Luke, CHAPTER 19. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19?45
McClure, S. (n.d.). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/111822.html
Meditation on Luke 19:45-48. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/11/18/536152/
Psalms, PSALM 119. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?14
Revelation, CHAPTER 10. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/10?8
Rohr, R. (2022, November 18). Find the Flow — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/find-the-flow-2022-11-18/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). All the People Hung upon His Words. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=nov18
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