Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
500

FIRST READING

1 Mac 2:15-29

The king’s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein to make them offer sacrifice. Many from Israel came to them; and Mattathias and his sons were assembled. Then the king’s officers spoke to Mattathias as follows: “You are a leader, honored and great in this town, and supported by sons and brothers. Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the Gentiles and the people of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the Friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.” But Mattathias answered and said in a loud voice: “Even if all the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him, and have chosen to obey his commandments, every one of them abandoning the religion of their ancestors, I and my sons and my brothers will continue to live by the covenant of our ancestors. Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances. We will not obey the king’s words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left.” When he had finished speaking these words, a Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein, according to the king’s command. When Mattathias saw it, he burned with zeal and his heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him on the altar. At the same time he killed the king’s officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar. Thus he burned with zeal for the law, just as Phinehas did against Zimri son of Salu. Then Mattathias cried out in the town with a loud voice, saying: “Let every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!” Then he and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the town. At that time many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to live there.

PSALM

50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15

Response: 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.

“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.

“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.”

GOSPEL

Lk 19:41-44

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Daily Reflection

Jerusalem was in a state of political tension and the Jews were awaiting a saviour to free them from their oppressors. They expected a militant leader and an immediate solution to their problems, so they are disappointed and disinterested when Jesus tries to make them understand a different reality – the kingdom of God.

The city, whose name means ‘peace’, does not recognise Jesus - God’s agent of Peace among them! They are too stubborn and too blind to recognise the meaning of true peace and salvation; they reject Jesus’ ways and teachings, and in doing so they not only turn their backs on God but they also foolishly lose the deliverance that is within their grasp. It is no wonder that Jesus weeps as he enters Jerusalem.

In our own lives, we are sometimes like the Jewish people, caught up with our own ideas of salvation, success and liberation. We turn away from the truth, preferring our way to God’s ways and timing.

Will we open our minds and hearts so as to recognise God’s presence and voice?