Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 11-21-03, Memorial, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reading I
1 Macc 4:36-37, 52-59

Judas and his brothers said,
"Now that our enemies have been crushed,
let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it."
So the whole army assembled, and went up to Mount Zion.

Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month,
that is, the month of Chislev,
in the year one hundred and forty-eight,
they arose and offered sacrifice according to the law
on the new altar of burnt offerings that they had made.
On the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had defiled it,
on that very day it was reconsecrated
with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals.
All the people prostrated themselves and adored and praised Heaven,
who had given them success.

For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar
and joyfully offered burnt offerings and sacrifices
of deliverance and praise.
They ornamented the facade of the temple with gold crowns and shields;
they repaired the gates and the priests' chambers
and furnished them with doors.
There was great joy among the people
now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed.
Then Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel
decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar
should be observed with joy and gladness
on the anniversary every year for eight days,
from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev.

Responsorial Psalm
1 Chronicles 29:10bcd, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd

R (13b) We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"Blessed may you be, O LORD,
God of Israel our father,
from eternity to eternity."
R We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power,
majesty, splendor, and glory.
For all in heaven and on earth is yours."
R We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"Yours, O LORD, is the sovereignty;
you are exalted as head over all.
Riches and honor are from you."
R We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"You have dominion over all,
In your hand are power and might;
it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all."
R We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.

Gospel
Lk 19:45-48

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
"It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves."
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words.

From: Luke 19:45-48

Jesus in the Temple

[45] And He (Jesus) entered the temple and began to drive out those who
sold, [46] saying to them, "It is written, `My house shall be a house
of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers."

[47] And He was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and
the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy Him;
[48] but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people
hung upon His words.

Commentary:

45-48. Jesus' indignation shows His zeal for the glory of His Father,
to be recognized at this time in the temple itself. He inveighs
against the traders for engaging in business which has nothing to do
with divine worship (cf. Matthew 21:12; Mark 11-15). Even the priests
allowed some of these abuses to go on--perhaps because they benefited
from them in the form of taxes. The traders did perform services
necessary for divine worship but this was vitiated by their excessive
desire for gain, turning the temple into a marketplace.

"My house shall be a house of prayer": Jesus uses these words from
Isaiah (56:7; cf. Jeremiah 7:11) to underline the purpose of the
temple. Jesus' behavior shows the respect the Temple of Jerusalem
deserved; how much more reverence should be shown our churches, where
Jesus Himself is really present in the Blessed Sacrament. (cf. notes on
Matthew 21:12-13; and Mark 11:15-18).

[The notes on Matthew 21:12-13 states:

12-13. Although God is present everywhere and cannot be confined within
the walls of temples built by man (Acts 17:24-25), God instructed Moses
to build a tabernacle where He would dwell among the Israelites (Exodus
25:40). Once the Jewish people were established in Palestine, King
Solomon, also in obedience to a divine instruction, built the temple of
Jerusalem (1 Kings 6-8), where people went to render public worship to
God (Deuteronomy 12).

Exodus (23:15) commanded the Israelites not to enter the temple
empty-handed, but to bring some victim to be sacrificed. To make this
easier for people who had to travel a certain distance, a veritable
market developed in the temple courtyards with animals being bought and
sold for sacrificial purposes. Originally this may have made sense,
but seemingly as time went on commercial gain became the dominant
purpose of this buying and selling of victims; probably the priests
themselves and temple servants benefited from this trade or even
operated it. The net result was that the temple looked more like a
livestock mart than a place for meeting God.

Moved by zeal for His Father's house (John 2:17), Jesus cannot tolerate
this deplorable abuse and in holy anger He ejects everyone--to show
people the respect and reverence due to the temple as a holy place. We
should show much greater respect in the Christian temple--the Christian
churches--where the eucharistic sacrifice is celebrated and where Jesus
Christ, God and Man, is really and truly present, reserved in the
tabernacle. For a Christian, proper dress, liturgical gestures and
postures, genuflections and reverence to the tabernacle, etc. are
expressions of the respect due to the Lord in His temple.

[The notes on Mark 11:15-18 states:

15-18. Our Lord does not abide lack of faith or piety in things to do
with the worship of God. If He acts so vigorously to defend the temple
of the Old Law, it indicates how we should truly conduct ourselves in
the Christian temple, where He is really and truly present in the
Blessed Eucharist. "Piety has its own good manners. Learn them. It's
a shame to see those `pious' people who don't know how to attend
Mass--even though they go daily,--nor how to bless themselves (they
throw their hands about in the weirdest fashion), nor how to bend the
knee before the Tabernacle (their ridiculous genuflections seem a
mockery), nor how to bow their heads reverently before a picture of our
Lady" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 541).]

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

FEAST OF THE DAY

The Feast of the Presentation of Mary has been celebrated since the
sixth century. This feast celebrates the formal dedication of Mary to
God in the Temple in Jerusalem. The celebration of the feast
became widespread in the West around the eleventh century. This
feast became associated with a church dedicated in Jerusalem in
honor of this event.

Accounts of the presentation of Mary come from apocryphal
literature. For example one account says that Joachim and Ann
presented Mary in the Temple at the age of three. Joachim and Ann
had been childless, and they promised to dedicate their child to God
if He desired for them to have a child. The accounts of Mary's
presentation have found to have little or no historical base, but they
do have a theological purpose. This feast continues the impact of the
feasts of the Immaculate Conception and the Birth of Mary, and
helps show Mary's dedication to God that began with the earliest
moments of her life and extended throughout her life.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Have love in your hearts but repress the tendency to appear devout.
-St. Mary Mazzarello

TODAY IN HISTORY

235 St Anterus begins his reign as Pope
496 St Gelasius I ends his reign as Pope

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Apocryphal texts are books that at one time were mistakenly held to
be inspired by God. Apocryphal texts are not included in the canon of
Scripture.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for all the leaders of the Church

The Word Among Us

Friday, November 21, 2003

Meditation
Luke 19:45-48

Make no mistake, Jesus was angry when he entered the Temple area and began driving out the money changers. Contrary to some artists’ depictions of him as a gentle, passive shepherd, Jesus could also be positively dangerous when his Father was being dishonored. In fact, Jesus experienced the full range of human emotions that run through our lives. Sorrow, compassion, fear, joy, wonder, and even anger: Jesus knew all of them as he walked the earth.

The marvelous truth of our faith is that Jesus came to redeem our humanity, not replace it with a new model. It’s not a crime to be a human being with emotions. When God designed us and endowed us with so wide a range of emotions, he pronounced that it was good—very good, in fact! Our emotions only get us into trouble when we allow them to rule us or to obscure our ability to walk in union with God.

Instead of cutting him off from God, as can happen to us, Jesus’ anger was a well-ordered response that flowed from his relationship with God. He knew that the Temple area was meant to be a place of prayer where God-fearing people could gather to offer worship to Yahweh and seek his intervention in their lives. While the money changers and animal sellers were a necessary aspect of Temple worship, their stalls should have been set up outside the Temple. But instead, the “city” was brought into the Temple rather than the kingdom of God into the city.

Jesus has the same zeal for our hearts—which are temples of the Holy Spirit—that he had for the Temple. Have we allowed worldly business—some of which is absolutely necessary—to take dominance in our hearts? Have we allowed our emotions to dominate our decisions and obscure our walk with God? Jesus wants to raise up our humanity to mirror his own. His Spirit wants to make us so much like Jesus that we show the world what it really means to be fully alive!

“Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and clear away the clutter. Drive the marketplace out of the center of my heart until there is only you. May I be consumed with love for God as I am transformed into your likeness.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Friday, November 21, 2003 >>

Presentation of Mary

1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59

1 Chronicles 29:10-12

Luke 19:45-48

View Readings

A PASSIONATE LOVE FOR THE CHURCH

“My house is meant for a house of prayer.” —Luke 19:46

Today is the patronal feast day of Our Lady of Presentation Ministries, the publisher of One Bread, One Body. Mary was presented in the Temple at the age of three to begin about twelve years of preparation to be the mother of God. God continued to make the Temple one of the most important places in His plan of salvation.

In the new covenant of Jesus, the Temple is fulfilled in the Church. The Church is so important in God’s plan that Jesus calls the Church His body (e.g. Eph 1:22-23) and His bride (see Eph 5:25ff). Jesus has given the Church the keys of God’s kingdom (Mt 16:19). Jesus loves the Church so much that He died for her (Eph 5:25). “Christians of the first centuries said, ‘The world was created for the sake of the Church’ ” (Catechism, 760). “The Church is the goal of all things” (Catechism, 760).

Pray that you will love the Church as much as Jesus wants you to love her. Ask Him to cleanse your temple of all sins (see Lk 19:46ff), especially pride and selfishness, so that you will love His Temple, the Church, as He does. Reconsecrate yourself to the Lord (see 1 Mc 4:54ff). Because you are a member of His body, your reconsecration will build up the Church. Live and die for Jesus and for His Church.

Prayer: Father, use Our Lady of Presentation Ministries fully to build up the Church.

Promise: “All the people prostrated themselves and adored and praised Heaven, who had given them success.” —1 Mc 4:55

Praise: Through Presentation Ministries, Our Lady of Presentation has blessed many by continuing to present her Son to the world through Catholic Scriptural publications, the Internet, audio and video tapes, retreats, and telephone Bible teachings.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Happy Endings Are Only Temporary
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Friday, November 21, 2003

I Maccabees 4:36-37,52-59 / Lk 19:45-48

Today we get a happy ending to the dreadful story we've been hearing all week, starting with the Greeks' brutal imposition of their culture upon the Jews, the revolt that followed, and finally the triumph of the Maccabees in expelling the Greeks and restoring the temple and its worship.

It is a happy ending for awhile, but students of history know that it was neither the first nor the last 'ending.' There had been happy endings before, when David first seized Jerusalem from the pagans and when his son Solomon had built the first great temple. And then there was the time when the Israelites came back from captivity in Babylon in the sixth century and rebuilt the temple which had been burned to the ground. And long after the Maccabees' triumph in the second century before Christ, the temple would need to be rebuilt and rededicated yet again by King Herod during Jesus' childhood - awaiting its final destruction in 70 A.D.

In this life, sad or happy endings are rarely endings, but only moments on the road. There's always another chapter in the story. And that points to the issue we need to focus on today. The journey we're on is a very long one, with many twists and turns, and inevitably with moments when we lose our focus and lose connection with the Lord. It can happen at any time or stage in our journey, whether we're young or old. The temple got rebuilt and rededicated so many times precisely because this was true about the Israelites, as it is true about us. That's reality.

We can face that reality by engaging each new day with open and listening hearts, that are able to hear the Lord speaking to us when we're wandering into dark places. We can face that reality by making prudent course changes - early and often. And each time, God will help us.

"Now that our enemies have been crushed,
let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it."

Both of these readings remind me of the recent news story detailing how the Russian Orthodox Church reacted to the marriage of two gay men. I just LOVE this story!!

Russian chapel razed after gay 'marriage'

LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH

MOSCOW — The Russian Orthodox Church has demolished a chapel where a priest conducted a "marriage" ceremony between two men.

The Chapel of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was torn down apparently after local churchmen decided it had been defiled.

The "marriage" of Denis Gogolyev and Mikhail Morozev in Nizhny Novgorod scandalized the Orthodox Church and created outrage among ordinary Russians.

The priest, the Rev. Vladimir Enert, was defrocked after the men said they paid him a $450 bribe to ignore a ban of same-sex "marriages."

A spokesman for the Orthodox Church said the chapel had to go, as it had been desecrated. Some local officials said it was due for demolition to make way for a new, larger church, though this would not open until 2005.

A spokesman for the Nizhny Novgorod Patriarchate told the Daily Telegraph, "The chapel was dismantled because it is no longer needed."

But he conceded that the homosexual "marriage" ceremony may have "sped up the process."

Words of Encouragement

Title: Don't Give Up!
Author: Mark Shea
Date: Friday, November 21, 2003

Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall
reap, if we do not lose heart.

In "The Screwtape Letters," C. S. Lewis' senior demon, Screwtape,
explains to a junior demon, Wormwood, why God sends us "dry
times":

He will set them off with communications of His presence which,
though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and
easy conquest over temptation. But He never allows this state of
affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at
least from their conscious experience, all those supports and
incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs--to
carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is
during such periods, much more than during the peak periods, that
it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the
prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him
best. We can drag our patients along by continual temptation,
because we design them for the table, and the more their will is
interfered with the better. He cannot "tempt" them to virtue as we
do to vice. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore
take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there, He
is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived,
Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a
human, no longer desiring, but still intending to do our Enemy's
will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him
seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and
still obeys.

Watching Bonnie 11/21/03
It’s very rare to encounter a movie and
television star who delivers as reliably as
Bonnie Hunt. When she’s in control, she
produces entertainment of a very high caliber,
which, because of Ms. Hunt’s personal
commitment to faith and family, can be
recommended to families without hesitation.
In This Article...
A Normal Family?
Comedy Without Innuendo?
Could This Really Be Hollywood?

A Normal Family?

Her current ABC sitcom, Life with Bonnie, and her 2000 feature directorial
debut, Return to Me are models for “happy Catholics” to try and emulate in
creating popular entertainment.

Bonnie Hunt is from a blue collar Catholic family in Chicago. One of seven
children, Bonnie keeps close ties to the folks back home, and always creates
comedy with family audiences in mind. After high school, Bonnie became a
nurse and spent several years working in hospitals before transitioning into
comedy writing.

Working with her writing partner, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt also produces and
stars in Life with Bonnie which airs on Friday nights on ABC. It is her third
attempt at her own show. The previous two found critical acclaim, but
couldn’t overcome the jitters of network headcounters. Thankfully, this time
around ABC seems to be supporting her, and it really is her show. Bonnie fired
the whole writing staff a few episodes into the season when they weren’t
getting the tone she wanted. This sent eyebrows skyward throughout the
television industry, but in Ms. Hunt’s mind, it was something that had to be
done. She wants this show to be different from the formulaic situation
comedy. She has something she wants to say in her productions. And what
she has to say is delightful.

Life with Bonnie is set against the day in, day out of a female talk show host
in Chicago. Married to family-practice doctor, and mother to their three
children, this is one of the few shows on television which actually depicts a
functional, divorce-free family, composed of a mother, father and children.
The scenes at the Molloy home are endearing and true to life, and Dr. and
Mrs. Molloy have a marriage that is devoted, vibrant and funny.

Comedy Without Innuendo?

The middle portion of each episode takes place at Bonnie’s place of work,
where, with the help of her quirky production staff, she hosts “Morning
Chicago.” In a radical departure from every other sit-com, much of the
comedy on Life with Bonnie is improvised, often with the help of a different
guest star each week but sometimes also with non-actors. Particularly the
talk show segments can be side-splittingly funny, featuring Ms. Hunt and her
crew at their stand-up comic best. Because of the improv, the humor feels
very fresh and authentic to the moment, and amazingly, it works without
crass sexual innuendo jokes. (Quick, somebody tell every other sit-com!)

Probably the most novel thing about Life with Bonnie in the panoply of TV
comedies is that this is a sitcom where some things are actually sacred. There
are moments, usually in the Molloy home, where the creators are not trying to
make you laugh, nor are they trying to bring a tear to your eye, but they’re
just showing a family. These unironic glimpses of family life make for a healthy
jolt to those of us who have been weaned on loud laugh tracks intruding into
sit-coms every other line. At the same time, Life with Bonni e avoids the
treacly, self-righteous “important moment” we recoil from instinctively on
sitcoms. Ms. Hunt is taking the sitcom in a new direction, and we should
watch her while she’s at it.

Could This Really Be Hollywood?

On the feature side, Ms. Hunt’s directorial debut, the 2000 film Return to Me
was also a delightful surprise to the few of us who actually caught it in the
theaters. (Go rent it!) Starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver, Bonnie Hunt
noted that she made the film as a testament to the simple, blue-collar people
of faith among whom she grew up in suburban Chicago. The film is romantic,
funny, beautifully produced, and completely supportive of a Christian
worldview. It is the story of Bob Rueland (Duchovny), who loses his beloved
wife in a car accident, and Grace Briggs (Driver), a woman in need of a heart
transplant who receives the late Mrs. Rueland’s heart. When Grace and Bob
meet, they are instantly attracted to each other, although neither has any
idea of the relationship they already have.

Return to Me is a marvelous movie about a tender and innocent love affair
between two people who’ve been dealt a harsh hand by life. It is an
affectionate snapshot of life in the kind of meltingpot, ethnic Catholic
community that many of our children may never see. Every Catholic family
should go out and buy a copy of this movie, because it shows the kind of
romance that Catholic parents can hold up to their children as a model for
behavior. Minus the heart disease and deceased spouses, of course.

Bonnie Hunt is beloved in Hollywood. The loyalty she earns from people who
work with her is legendary. Her genuine demeanor stands out in a town where
fear and competition tend to define many relationships. Always working
through the mainstream Hollywood systems, Bonnie has found powerful
vehicles to express her tremendous talents while never betraying her own
beliefs and values. It can be done.

Barbara Nicolosi

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