Tuesday of the
Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ezra 6:7-8.12b.14-20; Luke 8:19-21)
Contemporary Catholics flock to St. Peter’s Basilica in
Rome. The immense structure creates awe
not just for its grandeur but for the faith it signifies. However, St. Peter’s is of lesser importance
to Catholics than the Jerusalem Temple was to Old Testament Jews. The latter was univocally the “house of God.”
Only in that Temple could Jews offer sacrifice to make up for their sins. For this reason the charge that Jesus would
destroy the Temple was taken utmost seriousness. Today’s first reading speaks of the
dedication of the second Temple in the sixth century before Christ.
The scribe Ezra records how the Temple was actually
commissioned by Persian kings. He says
it was built by donations from the people as well as with public funds. He also mentions the feast prepared for the
Temple’s dedication. Four hundred lambs are
slaughtered for the occasion. But this sacrifice pales in comparison to the
preparations for the dedication of Solomon’s Temples. David’s son had 120,000 sheep slain for his Temple’s
dedication. One factor is that people
are poorer in Ezra’s time. Perhaps they have
been humbled by the tragic immorality that led to the first Temple’s destruction.
Churches, temples, and mosques are the most fitting places
to worship God. We should frequent them more
often than to meet the weekly obligation.
They do not have to be large or filled with expensive ornamentation
although these features have some value.
What is important is that we pray in these places fervently. We need God’s grace to follow Jesus’s way to God’s
heavenly home.
