Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings we heard about the tribulations that continued to face Israel at the time about a hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, as we continued from the narrative told from the Book of the Maccabees, of the Jewish rebellion against the tyranny and pagan rulership and imposition by king Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire and his successors.

We heard about how the king enforced the decree of pagan worship and submission to the Greek culture and way of life to his entire kingdom, including the people of Israel who lived in territories ruled by the king. As a result, dilemma and conflict arose, as there were those who readily and willingly accepted the king’s order and gained important court position and influence as a result, and those who refused to follow the king’s orders.

The king and his officials ordered the people of God to abandon their righteous and devoted ways, and instead of sacrificing to the Lord and worshipping God alone, they were compelled and forced to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods of the Greeks at the time. And this is a perversion and aberration to the rule that God had established with His people, that they ought to have no other gods beside Him and worship Him alone.

Yet, there were those who followed the king’s commands and succumbed to either the pressure and threats given by the king’s officials, or they were bought over by the temptations of pleasures and wealth that accompanied their acceptance into heresy and darkness. But in this, we saw how the righteous servant of God, Mattathias, in his great anger, struck at those who have betrayed the Lord and rejected Him.

In the Gospel today, our Lord Jesus lamented over Jerusalem and all the terrible things that would happen to it in the near future of His time. He was telling the people of the upcoming downfall and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans which would happen about four decades after Jesus had prophesied about the downfall of the holy city to the forces of the enemies of the faithful.

The city of God was besieged by the Romans just as it had been during the days of the Babylonian invasion under king Nebuchadnezzar. And on both occasions, the city was destroyed, its walls and gates were thrown down, the buildings, houses and palaces were destroyed, and most important of all was that the Temple of God, the Dwelling place of our Lord were torn down and destroyed.

These reminds us that living righteously in a world filled with sin and darkness will not be easy, and indeed is not easy. There will be opposition, struggle, resistance and suffering for our contrasting ways as compared to those of the world’s. But if we persevere, the rewards will be great and God will bless us without compare. He is always rich with His mercy and blessings for those who have kept their part of the covenant with Him.

Now we are all the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Temple of God’s Holy Presence, for God Himself dwells in us, as we have all received His Most Precious Body and Blood into ourselves. Let us make ourselves worthy, honourable and holy so that we shall be ever worthy of the Lord and will always receive His grace at all times. Shall we commit ourselves to actions that are in accordance to His will and be ever loving and faithful in all of our actions? Let us all do this, for the sake of the salvation of our souls. May God bless us always, now and forever. Amen.