The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to pray to discern the Will of God for our journey.
Time for the Temple
The reading from the Prophet Haggai exhorts the people to trust Providence to restore the future glory of the Temple.
* [2:6–9] These verses emphasize that the total fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel is on the horizon. Such an eschatological event, which will shake the nations (v. 6; cf. v. 21), finds an echo not only in the political revolts in the Persian empire in 521 but also in the formative events of Israel’s history (Ex 19:18; Jgs 5:4; Ps 68:8–9) when God intervened on behalf of the Israelites. The bringing of treasures of all the nations (v. 7) to Jerusalem recalls the visionary passages of Isaiah of the pilgrimage of all nations to Jerusalem (Is 2:2–4; 60:6–9).1
Psalm 43 is a prayer to God in times of trouble.
* [43:3] Your light and your fidelity: a pair of divine attributes personified as guides for the pilgrimage. As in Ps 42:9 the psalmist prays that these divine attributes lead him back to Jerusalem and ultimately to God’s presence in the Temple.2
The Gospel of Luke proclaims Peter’s Declaration about Jesus and how Jesus foretells His Death and Resurrection.
* [9:20] The Messiah of God: on the meaning of this title in first-century Palestinian Judaism, see notes on Lk 2:11 and on Mt 16:13–20 and Mk 8:27–30. * [9:23] Daily: this is a Lucan addition to a saying of Jesus, removing the saying from a context that envisioned the imminent suffering and death of the disciple of Jesus (as does the saying in Mk 8:34–35) to one that focuses on the demands of daily Christian existence.3
Eileen Wirth comments that Jesus sets a powerful example of how we must confront our own moral challenges.
Like Jesus, Mother questioned authority when she thought it was merited and that also had an indelible impact on her children. As a reporter, I did a lot of stories about people who had suffered injustices and to this day, I instinctively feel a duty to help underdogs, if possible. Still, standing up can be difficult. Even those of us who take pride in being mavericks like to do what people in our social circles approve of, such as getting vaccinated or refusing to do so. People in my milieu tend to shun anti-vaxxers (if they know any) but I keep reading that the opposite is true in other groups. We’re all sensitive to criticism such as Jesus faced. So let’s examine our lives and try to find ways to exhibit moral courage in the ordinary things we do. Blessings to all who find it within themselves to do so.4
Don Schwager quotes “Peter confesses that Jesus is God's Anointed Son and Savior of all,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"You see the skillfulness of the question. He [Jesus] did not at once say, 'Who do you say that I am?' He refers to the rumor of those that were outside their company. Then, having rejected it and shown it unsound, he might bring them back to the true opinion. It happened that way. When the disciples had said, 'Some, John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, and others, that some prophet of those in old time has risen up,' he said to them, 'But you, who do you say that I am?' Oh! how full of meaning is that word you! He separates them from all others, that they may also avoid the opinions of others. In this way, they will not conceive an unworthy idea about him or entertain confused and wavering thoughts. Then they will not also imagine that John had risen again, or one of the prophets. 'You,' he says, 'who have been chosen,' who by my decree have been called to the apostleship, who are the witnesses of my miracles. Who do you say that I am?'"(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 49)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Haggai 2:1-9 comments that the Temple was ultimately restored, and it stood for several hundred years afterward. Certainly, the Jewish people experienced God’s glory there. But Haggai’s prophecy also hinted at something greater than God dwelling in a physical building. It was foreshadowing the promise that God would fill us with his glory. Together, as “living stones,” we make up the Church (1 Peter 2:5). God’s presence dwells in each of us, and the clearer it shines forth from each of us, the brighter the glory of the Church becomes.
When you go to Confession, you are doing your part to restore God’s temple, the Church. After you make your confession, stay in church for a while and thank God that he has cleared away everything that blocks you from him. Rejoice that you carry his presence within you. Resolve that you will share that presence with the people you encounter. And remember that you are an essential part of the glory of God shining through the Church. “Lord, may your light shine in me today!”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments that the people imagined the Temple of Solomon as Haggai encouraged them to do their best and let God do the rest. Jesus frequently prays to discern the Will of the Father in Luke’s Gospel. Friar Jude reminds us of Jesus' self reference as the Son of Man resonating with The Book of Daniel and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Sallie McFague (1933–2019), a renowned scholar in the theological disciplines of ecology, economics, and feminist Christianity. In her book Blessed Are the Consumers, she calls consumerism “the most successful religion on the planet” with catastrophic results for humanity and our planet. However, she also suggests a way forward.
I have been struck by . . . the rather shocking practice of self-emptying, of what the Christian tradition has called “kenosis” [see Philippians 2:5–8]. . . . I believe it suggests an ethic for our time, a time that is characterized by climate change and financial chaos. These two related crises are the result of excess, our insatiable appetites that are literally consuming the world. . . . We are living way beyond our means at all levels: our personal credit cards, the practices of the financial lending institutions, and the planet’s resources that support all of us.7
We are challenged to look to Jesus and the Cross when we discern that efforts today are too often in support of the success of ourselves in our consumerism culture.
References
