November 20, 2025
Thursday of the Thirty-third
Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 500
Reading
I
The officers of
the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy
came to the city of Modein to organize the sacrifices.
Many of Israel joined them,
but Mattathias and his sons gathered in a group apart.
Then the officers of the king addressed Mattathias:
“You are a leader, an honorable and great man in this city,
supported by sons and kin.
Come now, be the first to obey the king’s command,
as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah
and those who are left in Jerusalem have done.
Then you and your sons shall be numbered among the King’s Friends,
and shall be enriched with silver and gold and many gifts.”
But Mattathias answered in a loud voice:
“Although all the Gentiles in the king’s realm obey him,
so that each forsakes the religion of his fathers
and consents to the king’s orders,
yet I and my sons and my kin
will keep to the covenant of our fathers.
God forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments.
We will not obey the words of the king
nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree.”
As he finished
saying these words,
a certain Jew came forward in the sight of all
to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein
according to the king’s order.
When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal;
his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused;
he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar.
At the same time, he also killed the messenger of the king
who was forcing them to sacrifice,
and he tore down the altar.
Thus he showed his zeal for the law,
just as Phinehas did with Zimri, son of Salu.
Then Mattathias
went through the city shouting,
“Let everyone who is zealous for the law
and who stands by the covenant follow after me!”
Thereupon he fled to the mountains with his sons,
leaving behind in the city all their possessions.
Many who sought to live according to righteousness and religious custom
went out into the desert to settle there.
Responsorial
Psalm
R.
(23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his justice;
for God himself is the judge.
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
Then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
As Jesus drew near
Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112025.cfm
Commentary on 1
Maccabees 2:15-29
Today, we go back to reading from the First Book of
Maccabees and continue the story of the persecution of the Jews.
The New Jerusalem Bible comments:
“Persecution produces a revival of religious awareness.
Jewish opposition to Hellenism takes the form of physical violence, passive
resistance, and ultimately a war of religion under the leadership of
Mattathias, but particularly under Judas Maccabeus. Judas had realised that
religious and political independence were interconnected: for this reason the
struggle continued even after religious freedom had been won. But the shift
from the religious to a political ground led to the compromises and party
squabbles occupying the last part of the book. These in the end were to oust
religious zeal and discredit the Maccabees’ successors, the Hasmonaeans, in the
estimation of their devout contemporaries.”
As the reading opens we are told that officials of King
Antiochus had arrived in Modein, the town where Mattathias, son of a priest and
originally from Jerusalem, had settled. The officials’ task was to force people
to abandon their traditional religion and join in the sacrifices of the now
official religion imposed by the king. While many of the Israelites complied
with the government order and joined in the sacrifices, Mattathias and his sons
stood apart.
The officials approached Mattathias and tried to persuade
him to change his mind. They used words of flattery and spoke of Mattathias as
a great man in the town and a respected leader. Because of his position, they
urged him to step forward and give an example which others would then surely
follow. Then came the enticements. If Mattathias and sons would step forward
for the sacrifice, they would be reckoned as:
Friends of the king, and…[his] sons will be honored with
silver and gold and many gifts.
“Friend of the King” was a title of honour and a holdover
from the court of Persia. There were several grades. A “Friend” also had free
access to the king, who would, from time to time, assign him various
responsibilities. In yesterday’s reading, we saw that the youngest of the seven
Maccabee sons was also bribed with this honour.
Mattathias responded to the king by saying that even if
every nation in the king’s dominions were to conform to his commands, he, his
brothers and his sons would remain faithful to the Law and its observances. So
they would not obey the king’s command or deviate in any way from their
religious beliefs.
Just as he finished speaking, a Jew came forward in the
sight of all to offer sacrifice as the king’s edict had laid down, and:
When Mattathias saw it, he burned with zeal, and his
heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and slaughtered him
on the altar.
In these circumstances, the anger against such a flagrant
violation of the Law is seen as justified. The killing is another matter.
But things did not stop there. Mattathias went on to cut
down the royal commissioner responsible for enforcing the offering of sacrifice
and also tore down the altar. In so doing, we are told that he imitated the
example of Phinehas against Zimri, son of Salu.
The story of Phinehas is told in the Book of Numbers.
Phinehas belonged to the priestly caste and was a grandson of Aaron, while
Zimri was a prince of the ancestral house of the Simeonites. When Phinehas saw
Zimri bring a Midianite woman (an unclean Gentile from a hostile people) into
the camp, presumably with sexual intentions, Phinehas immediately, fired with
the same kind of anger, went and stabbed both Zimri and the woman in the alcove
where they were ensconced. For this act of zeal for the Law he was commended by
Yahweh (see Num 25:6-15).
Mattathias then went through the town calling on all those
who, like him, had zeal for the Law and based their lives on the covenant, to
follow him and leave Modein. He then fled with his sons into the hills, leaving
all his possessions behind. Many people “who were seeking righteousness and
justice” did not actually take to the hills, but went out into the desert and
remained there. The rebellion had begun.
We certainly admire Mattathias for his zeal, his courage and
his total dedication to God’s Law as he understood it. We could hardly—in the
light of the Gospel—admire his violence in killing two people.
There is also the danger, in a situation like his, of
fanaticism taking over, as has been seen in religion-associated movements of
our own time: Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland; Catholics,
Orthodox and Muslims in the former country of Yugoslavia; Hindus and Muslims in
India; and of course, the great sadness of the Jews and Palestinians in the
Middle East. There is no wonder religion is so poorly thought of by some!
A true religion requires fidelity unto death, but it also
rejects violence of any kind and respects other religious beliefs held in
sincerity and good faith. We might profitably examine our own behaviour for any
sign of bigotry, intolerance, prejudice or judgementalism—even against
fellow-Catholics.
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Commentary on Luke
19:41-44
Jesus is now on the last stage of his mission. He approaches
Jerusalem, which will be the scene for the last great act of his life—his
passion, death and resurrection. From here too, will rise up the new community
founded in his name, commissioned to continue the work he had started.
As he approaches the city he weeps over its tragic end. He
implies that, if the city had received him as Lord and King, it might not have
met the fate that was in store for it:
If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the
things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
The second half of the word ‘Jerusalem’ (i.e. -salem means
‘peace’; in Hebrew it is shalom). The city had not known the “the
things that make for peace” which, of course, was the path that led to
Jesus—the Prince of Peace and the source of all peace in our lives. Jerusalem
has hardly known peace since that time—neither for the Jewish nor the
Palestinian people.
The rest of the passage is a prophecy of what in fact is
going to happen to the city. We know that it was besieged by the Emperor Titus
in the year 70 AD. However, Jesus’ words are built up from many Old Testament
references and seem to refer rather to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC
as much, if not more, than that brought about by the Romans. And as none of the
distinctive features of the Roman siege are mentioned, the words seem to date
from before that time.
But of course, subsequently, it was the Romans who destroyed
the city and its huge Temple. One of the wonders of the ancient world was
reduced to ruins. The Temple was ransacked and its most precious ornaments,
including the seven-branched candlestick, were carried off. All of this is
sculpturally recorded in the triumphal Arch of Titus erected in Rome to
commemorate his victory, and which can be seen in the Forum to this day.
All this will take place, Jesus says:
…because you did not recognize the time of your
visitation from God.
So many failed to recognise Jesus as Messiah, as God coming
to visit them—they rejected him.
With the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish faith was
dealt a serious blow, from which, it may be said, it has never fully recovered.
No temple has ever taken its place, for it is believed it can only be on the
same sacred site in Jerusalem. But unfortunately for the Jews, the Al-Aqsa
mosque stands on the site today and is not likely to be removed. All that is
left of Herod’s Temple is the Wailing Wall, where Jews go to pray and lament
their lost glory.
For us Christians, there is no exclusively holy place,
although certain places are of special significance. But as Paul reminds us,
each baptised person is a Temple of the Spirit and is to act as such and be
respected as such:
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am
there among them. (Matt 18:20)
Such a gathering may be at a solemn papal Mass in the
magnificent basilica of St Peter’s in Rome, or it may be oppressed Christians
gathering secretly in prayer in a labour camp—it does not matter. It is the
closeness to Christ and to each other that matters and not the place.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1335g/
Thursday,
November 20, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening prayer
Father of all that is good, keep
us faithful in serving you, for to serve you is our lasting joy.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Gospel reading - Luke 19:41-44
As Jesus drew near and came within
sight of the city, He shed tears over it and said, “If you too had only
recognized on this day the way to peace! But in fact it is hidden from your
eyes!
Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise
fortifications all around you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on
every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the
ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you, because
you did not recognize the moment of your visitation.”
Reflection
•
The Gospel today tells us that Jesus, when he
saw Jerusalem as he approached, began to shed tears and to pronounce a very
dark future for the city of His people.
•
Luke 19, 41-42 Jesus sheds tears over Jerusalem.
At that time, Jesus was near Jerusalem, and when He saw the city, He shed tears
over it and said “if you too had only recognized on this day the way to peace!
But in fact it is hidden from your eyes!” Jesus sheds tears because He loves
His homeland and His people, the capital city of His land, and the temple. He
sheds tears because He knows that everything will be destroyed because of the
fault of His people who were not aware of the call made by God through His
ministry. People were not aware of the way to peace (Shalom). In fact, it is
hidden from their eyes. This affirmation recalls the criticism of Isaiah to the
person who adored idols: “He adores ashes, his deluded heart has led him
astray; he will not save himself, he will not think. What I have in my hand is
nothing but a lie!” (Is 44, 20). People became incapable of perceiving the
truth. As Saint Paul says: “But for those who out of jealousy have taken for
their guide not truth but injustice, there will be a fury of retribution” (Rm
2, 8). It is truth that remains the prisoner of injustice. On another occasion,
Jesus complains that Jerusalem did not know how to become aware of God’s visit
nor of accepting it: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and
stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your
children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused!
Look, your house will be left to you, it will be deserted” (Lk 13, 34-35).
•
Luke 19, 43-44 Announcement of the destruction
of Jerusalem. “Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise
fortifications all around you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on
every side; they will dash you and your children inside your walls to the
ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you, because
you did not recognize the moment of your visitation” Jesus describes what will
happen to Jerusalem. He uses the images of war which were common at that time
when an army attacked a city: trenches, killing of people, and total
destruction of the walls and houses. In the past, this is the way Jerusalem was
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The Roman legions used to do this with rebellious
cities, and this is what will be done again, forty years later, to the city of
Jerusalem. In fact, in the year 70, Jerusalem was surrounded and invaded by the
Roman army. Everything was destroyed. Before this historical background, the
gesture of Jesus becomes a very serious warning for all those who pervert the
Good News.. They should have listened to the final warning: “Because you did
not recognize the moment of your visitation” In this warning, everything which
Jesus does is defined as a “visitation from God”.
Personal questions
•
Do you weep over a world situation? Looking at
the present day situation of the world, would Jesus shed tears? The vision is
dark. From the point of view of ecology, we have already gone beyond the limit.
The vision is tragic.
•
In Jesus, God visits His people. In your life,
have you received some visit from God?
Concluding prayer
Sing a new song to Yahweh:
his praise in the assembly of the faithful! Israel
shall rejoice in its Maker, the children of Zion delight in their king. (Ps 149,1-2)
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