September 25, 2025
Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 452
Reading 1
On the first day of the sixth month in the second year of
King Darius,
The word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai
to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,
and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak:
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
This people says:
"The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD."
(Then this word of the LORD came through Haggai, the prophet:)
Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses,
while this house lies in ruins?
Now thus says the LORD of hosts:
Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;
You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated;
have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
And whoever earned wages
earned them for a bag with holes in it.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Consider your ways!
Go up into the hill country;
bring timber, and build the house
That I may take pleasure in it
and receive my glory, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R. (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
"John has been raised from the dead";
others were saying, "Elijah has appeared";
still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen."
But Herod said, "John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?"
And he kept trying to see him.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092525.cfm
Commentary on Haggai
1:1-8
For two days we take our readings from Haggai, one of the
lesser known of the so-called Minor Prophets. The whole book consists of only
two chapters and both our readings will be taken from the first chapter.
The Jerusalem Bible notes:
“The last, post-exilic, period of prophecy opens with
Haggai. The change is striking. Before the Exile the watchword of the prophets
was Punishment. During the Exile it became Consolation. Now it is Restoration.
Haggai appears at a critical moment in the development of Judaism; the birth of
the new Palestinian community. His short exhortations are precisely dated,
August and September of 520 BC. The first Jews to return from Babylonia to
rebuild the Temple were quickly discouraged. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah
stirred them to new efforts and urged Zerubbabel the governor and the High
Priest Joshua to resume work on the Temple. This was done in September, 520
BC.”
The four brief discourses composing this book are entirely
concerned with this ‘restoration’. Since the Temple is still in ruins and
Yahweh has destroyed the harvests, it is believed the rebuilding will usher in
the age of prosperity. However unimposing, this new Temple will dim the glory
of the old; and power is promised to Zerubbabel, the chosen one of God.
Therefore, this Temple and this descendant of David become the focus of a
messianic hope that will be more clearly expressed in Zechariah.
The New International Version Study Bible also
gives a brief historical background which helps to contextualise today’s
reading:
“Haggai was a prophet who, along with Zechariah, encouraged
the returned exiles to rebuild the Temple (see Ezra 5:1-2;6:14). ‘Haggai’ means
‘festal’, which may indicate that the prophet was born during one of the three
pilgrimage feasts (Unleavened Bread, Pentecost or Weeks, and Tabernacles).
Based on the verse in Haggai 2:3, Haggai may have witnessed the destruction of
Solomon’s Temple. If so, he must have been in his early 70s during his
ministry…”
In 538 BC, the conqueror of Babylon, Cyrus king of Persia, issued
a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Led
by Zerubbabel, about 50,000 Jews journeyed home and began work on the Temple.
About two years later (in 536 BC) they completed the foundation amid great
rejoicing. Their success aroused the Samaritans and other neighbours who feared
the political and religious implications of a rebuilt Temple in a thriving
Jewish state. They therefore opposed the project vigorously and managed to halt
work until Darius the Great became king of Persia in 522 BC. Darius was
interested in the religions of his empire, and Haggai and Zechariah began to
preach in his second year (520 BC). The Jews were more to blame for their
inactivity than their opponents, and Haggai tried to arouse them from their
lethargy. When the governor of Transeuphrates and other officials tried to
interfere with the rebuilding efforts, Darius fully supported the Jews. In 516
BC, the Temple was finished and dedicated. Next to Obadiah, Haggai is the
shortest book in the Old Testament.
Today’s reading finds us in the same period as the Book of
Ezra which we have just been reading. King Darius is the emperor of Persia. It
is the first day of the sixth month (August/September) in the year 520 BC, the
second year of his reign. The New Moon was the day on which prophets were
sometimes consulted.
King Darius Hystaspis (or Hystaspes) ruled Persia from 522
to 486 BC. As a historical footnote, it was he who prepared the trilingual
inscription on the Behistun (Bisitun) cliff wall (located in modern Iran),
through which cuneiform languages were later deciphered.
Haggai, the Lord’s prophet, has a message from Yahweh for
the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and for the high priest,
Joshua, son of Jehozadak. In 1 Chronicles we are told that Jehozakak was taken
away into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar.
The Lord’s message is clear. He wants his Temple to be
built, but “these people” are saying the time has not yet come for the
rebuilding, even though the foundations had been laid 16 years previously (in
536 BC). They have other priorities, like the building of their own houses.
Because of their sin, the nation is not called “my people”.
Then:
…the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying:
“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this
house lies in ruins?”
The luxury of the homes of the wealthy with their “paneled
houses” contrasts sadly with the ruined state of the Lord’s home. “Paneled
houses” were usually connected with royal dwellings, which had cedar paneling.
There seems to be an element of sarcasm in the Lord’s question. It also reminds
one of David’s embarrassment about living in a palace while the Ark of the
Covenant was still confined to a tent:
See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of
God stays in a tent. (2 Sam 7:2)
It seems the returned exiles did not have any such qualms.
Now comes a warning about their self-centred lifestyle:
Consider how you have fared.
They are living a life of conspicuous consumption, like
people living it high while debts mount on their credit cards:
You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you
never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe
yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them
into a bag with holes.
This is a pretty accurate image of our own credit card
culture!
They have planted abundantly, but have been punished by
famine when the harvests never materialised. Because of that, they live lives
which give no satisfaction, no matter how active they are. They earn wages, but
these disappear when prices soar during time of famine.
Instead, let them get down to the task of rebuilding the
Lord’s house. Let them go up into the hills of Judah and get the timber for
building. Perhaps wood from the hills around Jerusalem was to supplement the
cedar wood already purchased from Lebanon. Once the Lord’s House is complete,
he will:
…take pleasure in it and be honored…
The reading is a wake-up call to us about our priorities.
How are we building the “Lord’s house”? Do we take care of our own priorities
first and then wonder about what God wants as an after-thought? St Ignatius
Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises speaks of people organising
their lives according to their own desires and likes and then, when everything
is set, start wondering what God might want. Of course, it should be the other
way round.
The rich man in the Gospel made his money first and then
asked Jesus what he should do to gain eternal life. When told that he needed to
get rid of his wealth and share it with the needy, he could not do it.
Comments Off
Commentary on Luke
9:7-9
Today we have a short interlude which is leading to some
very special revelations. Herod the Tetrarch is hearing stories about what
Jesus is doing. ‘Tetrarch’ means the ruler of one-fourth part of a kingdom.
This one, Herod Antipas, was one of several sons of Herod the Great, whose
kingdom was divided among four of them. Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee and
Perea from 4 BC to 39 AD. Although not strictly speaking a ‘king’, he is called
that in Matthew and Mark following popular usage.
Herod is puzzled because he is being told that Jesus is John
the Baptist risen from the dead. At the same time others are saying that Elijah
(whose expected return would signal the arrival of the Messiah), or one of the
ancient prophets has reappeared. Herod has recently beheaded John the Baptist,
and the superstitious king is filled with a mixture of fear and curiosity. He
kept trying to ‘see’ Jesus.
Luke does not actually record the death of John and, in this
short passage, he prepares the reader for the later meeting of Herod with Jesus
(Luke 23:8-12). So Herod’s wish will be partially fulfilled at a later date,
though under very unexpected circumstances, and in a way that Herod will find
very unsatisfactory. He is hoping that Jesus, like some circus dog, will do
some ‘tricks’ or ‘miracles’ for him.
Herod’s desire was almost entirely one of curiosity, it was
the desire of the hedonist and the seeker of novelty. To ‘see’ Jesus in the
full Gospel sense is something totally different. It can only happen to those
who have the eyes of faith, and who can see in the person of Jesus the presence
and power of God. We may recall the request of some ‘Greeks’ who told Philip
they wanted to see Jesus, and the reply that Jesus gave about the grain of
wheat falling into the ground and dying (John 12:20-26). We have not seen Jesus
if we do not know him in his suffering and dying as his way to new life.
Let us ask to see Jesus today, a seeing that leads to a
total acceptance of his way of life and following him all the way, through the
cross and beyond to a life that never ends.
Comments Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1255g/
Thursday,
September 25, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father, guide us, as you guide creation
according to your law of love. May we love one another and come to perfection
in the eternal life prepared for us.
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 9: 7-9
Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that
was going on; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had
risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one
of the ancient prophets had come back to life.
But Herod said, ‘John? I beheaded
him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see him.
Reflection
Today’s Gospel presents a
reaction from Herod listening to the preaching of
Jesus. Herod does not know how to place
himself before Jesus He had killed John the Baptist and now he wants to see
Jesus close to him. It is always threatening.
•
Luke 9: 7-8: Who is Jesus? The text begins with
the exposition of the opinion of the people and of Herod on Jesus. Some
associated Jesus to John the Baptist and to Elijah. Others identified him with
a Prophet, that is, with a person who speaks in the name of God, who has the
courage to denounce injustices of those in power and who knows how to give hope
to the little ones. He is the Prophet announced in the Old Testament like a new
Moses (Dt 18: 15). These are the same opinions that Jesus received from the
disciples when he asked them: “Who do people say I am?” (Lk 9: 18). Persons
tried to understand Jesus starting from things that they knew, thought and expected.
They tried to set him against the background of the familiar criteria of the
Old Testament with its prophecies and hopes, and of the Tradition of the
Ancients with their laws. But these were insufficient criteria; Jesus could not
enter into them, he was much bigger!
•
Luke 9: 9: Herod wants to see Jesus. But Herod
said: “John, I beheaded him; so who is this of whom I hear such things?” “And
he was anxious to see him.” Herod, a superstitious man without scruples,
recognizes that he was the murderer of John the Baptist. Now, he wants to see
Jesus. Luke suggests thus that the threats begin to appear on the horizon of
the preaching of Jesus. Herod had no fear to kill John. He will not be afraid
to kill Jesus. On the other side, Jesus does no fear Herod. When they tell him
that Herod wanted to take him to kill him, he sent someone to tell him: “You
may go and give that fox this message: Look, today and tomorrow I drive out
devils and heal, and on the third day I attain my end.” (Lk 13: 32). Herod has
no power over Jesus. When at the hour of the passion, Pilate sends Jesus to be
judged by Herod, Jesus does not respond anything (Lk 23: 9). Herod does not
deserve a response.
•
From father to son. Sometimes the three Herods,
who lived during that time are confused, then the three appear in the New
Testament with the same name: a) Herod, called the Great, governed over the
whole of Palestine from 37 before Christ. He appears at the birth of Jesus (Mt
2: 1). He kills the newborn babies of Bethlehem (Mt 2: 16). b) Herod, called
Antipas, governed in Galilee from the year 4 to 39 after Christ. He appears at
the death of Jesus (Lk 23: 7). He killed John the Baptist (Mk 6: 14-29). c)
Herod, called Agrippa, governed all over Palestine from the year 41 to 44 after
Christ. He appears in the Acts of the Apostles (Ac 12: 1, 20). He killed the
Apostle James (Ac 12: 2).
•
When Jesus was about four years old, King Herod,
the one who killed the newborn babies of Bethlehem died (Mt 2: 16). His
territory was divided among his sons, Archelaus, would govern Judea. He was
less intelligent than his father, but more violent. When he assumed the power,
approximately 3000 persons were massacred on the square of the Temple! The
Gospel of Matthew says that Mary and Joseph, when they learnt that Archelaus
had taken over the government of Galilee, were afraid and returned on the road
and went to Nazareth, in Galilee, which was governed by another son of Herod,
called Herod Antipas (Lk 3: 1). This Antipas governed over 40 years. During the
thirtythree years of Jesus there was no change of government in Galilee.
•
Herod, the Great, the father of Herod Antipas,
had constructed the city of Caesarea Maritime, inaugurated in the year 15
before Christ. It was the new port to get out the products of the region. They
had to compete with the large port of Tyron in the North and, thus, help to
develop trade and business in Samaria and in Galilee. Because of this, from the
time of Herod the Great, the agricultural production in Galilee began to
orientate itself no longer according to the needs of the families, as before,
but according to the demands of the market. This process of change in the
economy continued during all the time of the government of Herod Antipas,
another forty years, and found in him an efficient organizer. All these
governors were ‘servants of power’. In fact, the one who commanded in
Palestine, from the year 63 before Christ, was Rome, the Empire.
Personal Questions
•
It is well always to ask ourselves: Who is Jesus
for me?
•
Herod wants to see Jesus. His was a
superstitious and morbid curiosity. Others want to see Jesus because they seek
a sense for their life. And I, what motivation do I have which moves me to see
and encounter Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
Each morning fill us with your faithful
love, we shall sing and be happy all our days;
let our joy be as long as the time that you afflicted us, the
years when we experienced disaster. (Ps 90: 14-15)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét