God’s help is constant

FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD

Friday 24 November 2023 – Week 33 Ordinary Time

WORD of the DAY 

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.
(1 Maccabees 4: 36-37)

How shall I live this Word?     

When we connect this passage to the first book of Maccabees 3: 46: “So they gathered together and came to Masfa opposite Jerusalem, because in ancient times in Masfa there was a place of prayer in Israel,” we understand how important prayer is to defeat our enemies. In that period, the enemies were the pagans; today the battle against the pagans is no longer with weapons but against the dominant values of society, a battle that is outside us and within us. When we manage to overcome the attractions of a selfish life (see letter to the Galatians 5:19) it is important to recognize the fundamental help of the Lord. In fact, the book of Maccabees 3:53: “How can we resist them if you do not will to help us?” tells us this. We need to approach the sacraments, in particular confession, to purify and reconsecrate our temple desecrated by values contrary to Christianity. Saint Paul reminds us that we are a temple in the first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 6 verse 19: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?”

Today, I remain silent to recognize and thank the Lord for all the times He helped me overcome myself to follow Him.

The voice of Pope Francis, 22 November 2013

Saint Paul tells us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. I am a temple. The Spirit of God is in me. And he also tells us: ‘Do not grieve the Spirit of the Lord who is within you!’ And here perhaps we can talk about a sort of adoration which is the heart that seeks the Spirit of the Lord within itself and knows that God is within itself, that the Holy Spirit is within itself. It listens to Him and follows Him.

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