Holiness: Response to God's Deeds

 Reflection on Today's Readings, Friday of 33rd Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1, November 19th, 2021
Texts: 1 Mac. 4:36-37.52-59; Ps.1 Chr. 29: 10-12; Luke 19:45-48
Today, Judas and the army teach us how to respond to God's grace, God's favour and love. They acknowledged the help of God in their fight to defend their faith. It is said, "Judas and his brothers said, 'Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.'” This their action brings to mind the words of Zechariah: "that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days" (Luke 1:74-75). Every opportunity we have to stay alive is a victory over death: life is a victory over death. As long as we live God has granted us victory and so we have every reason to serve God in holiness and justice. The sanctuary in the first reading is the symbol of the heart of each of us. As Judas and the army cleansed the sanctuary, the holy place of God, we are to cleanse our hearts and always made them fit for God's dwelling. Let us dedicate our hearts to God as they dedicated the sanctuary to God.
We dedicate our hearts to God when we fill them with the thoughts of God, we dedicate our hearts to God when we fill them with holy thoughts. This  is possible by reading and meditating on God's word; by always considering the love and justice of God revealed in the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ; by always considering our hope in God,  that inheritance we have in Jesus Christ; by always considering that thing which no eye has seen, no ear heard and human mind can comprehend that await us in the kingdom of God. We can also dedicate our hearts to God by devoting it to love God and our neighbours, by devoting them to the service of truth and justice. Our hearts must be cleansed and be dedicated to God.
Today's gospel reading reminds us to cleanse the whole body, for temple is the symbol of the body of each of us. Our eyes should be fed with the holy thing. We need to be mindful of what we use our eyes to see, look and watch. We need to render our mouths holy by filling them with edifying words, not foul words, by filling them with blessings, not curse. Our hands should be filled with good deeds and our feet should walk in the ways of the Lord.
Jesus Christ also reminds us that the house of God is meant for prayer. It is said, "Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be a house of prayer"’" By those words, our Lord calls us to prayer; we are to make prayer part and parcel of our life. This emphasizes the importance of prayer. Our bodies should be places of encounters with God. We are to offer ourselves to God as sacrifice of praise and deliverance, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

Lord God, you hold out the light of your Word to those who do not know you. Strengthen in our hearts the faith you have given us, so that no trials may quench the fire your Spirit has kindled within us. Amen. (Today's morning prayer)

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke