In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how we find direction in life. Is it best to assume that we are in control of where we are going, or should we look elsewhere?

Readings for Saturday of week 33 of Ordinary Time: 1 Maccabees 6.1-13; Psalm 9.2-4, 6, 16, 19; Luke 20.27-40

All of us will have the experience of having got lost at one time or another. We think we know where we are going, but at some point the realisation dawns that we have taken a wrong turn and now have no idea where we are. In the days before sat nav it was a lot easier to make navigation errors. Technology, though, is not fool-proof; it’s only as good as the information that’s put in, and of course the battery can always die at the crucial moment!

In our readings today we see people who thought they were in control. They thought they knew it all, and were certain of the direction they were going. Ultimately, however, they came to realise that they had got it wrong, and were quite lost. In the passage from 1 Maccabees we see King Antiochus finally seeing the error of his ways. He realises that the loss of Judah through the Jewish revolt was because of “the evils I did in Jerusalem”, as he puts it. He had oppressed the people and despoiled the Temple. Previously seeing himself as a powerful and all-conquering ruler, he now cuts a deeply tragic figure. In the Gospel, the Sadducees think they have it all figured out. They try to rubbish the idea of a resurrection with their silly question about who would be married to whom in the next life. Jesus challenges their worldview, telling them that the resurrection life will be dramatically different to this one. The Sadducees are shown to be hopelessly lost, having travelled up a blind alley.

When we acknowledge that we are not in control, that we often don’t know the way ahead or destination, then it frees us to trust in God. He is the best sat nav we could ever hope for, the one who, if we let him, will lead us into all truth.

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers the concept of a spiritual spring clean as a way of reconnecting with God.

Readings for Friday in the 33rd week of Ordinary Time: 1 Maccabees 4.36-37, 52-29; 1 Chronicles 29.10, 11-12; Luke 19.45-48

Having a good clear-out of a room or even the entire house can be very therapeutic, even if we might wonder half-way through why we ever started! Sorting out years of accumulated junk, taking umpteen black bags to the tip, or delivering old items to the charity shop, somehow makes us feel better. Added to which, we also suddenly have lots of extra space which we had forgotten existed! We often talk about having a “spring clean” and this also denotes a time of renewal just when the natural world is bursting into new life once more.

Our readings today have within them a sense of cleansing, rededication, and a fresh start. In the passage from 1 Maccabees, Judas and his brothers, having defeated the Seleucid rulers of Israel, cleanse and rededicate the Temple which had previously been desecrated. We also learn that they commanded that this event be remembered every year, which Jewish people still do at the festival of Hanukkah. In the Gospel, nearly 200 years after the events of Maccabees, Jesus performs his own cleansing of the Temple, driving out the traders.

The great Temple in Jerusalem of course no longer exists, except for one wall. For Christians, God’s Temple – his dwelling place – is the human heart. As we reflect on today’s readings, perhaps we should ask ourselves: “what in my life needs cleansing, rebuilding, or rededication?” Like Judas, do we need to restore something that has been neglected? Or like Jesus, do we need to drive out that which doesn’t belong? The approach of Advent is not a bad time to be considering these things. We can think of it as a spiritual spring clean – even if it takes place in the depths of winter!  

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richards considers the challenges that we face as people of faith in today’s world. These are not so very different from the challenges faced by people centuries ago. The question remains: how do we respond?

Readings for Thursday in 33rd week of Ordinary Time: 1 Maccabees 2.15-29; Psalm 50.1-2, 5-6, 14-15; Luke 19.41-44

How do you react when you switch on the news on the radio or TV, call up your favourite news website, or open the newspaper? Are you filled with hope and optimism at the state of the world, or are you consumed with anger, sadness and despair? Often, we might be forgiven for feeling the latter set of emotions. There always seems so much bad news, and that is to say nothing of the state of the church!

It is interesting to note, however, that such emotions are nothing new. In both of our readings today, we see people who are angered or saddened by what they see going on around them. In the reading from Maccabees, the king’s officials are trying to make the Jewish people renounce their faith, cultue and traditions. Mattathias bravely resists; when he sees a fellow Jew giving in and accepting the kings’s commands, he is consumed with zeal and anger. We are told that Mattathias kills not only the Jew who has forsaken his religion, but also the king’s officer who was forcing them to do so. Then he and his sons flee from the city to the hills. In the Gospel, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because of its rejection of him. He foretells that eventually disaster will come upon the city. 

As we reflect on the state of the world, and the church, today, these readings provide an important challenge. They ask us, effectively, which side we are on. Are we like those, who, in Mattathias’s day, were willing to compromise their faith for an easy life? Or are we like Mattathias himself, determined to remain faithful to God even at great cost to ourselves? And might we be like the city of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day, failing to recognise what God is doing in our very midst? Or do we have the courage to respond, to go where he would lead us, even if the path is uncertain and the destination not always clear?

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers the risks that people have taken because of their faith in God. What are we prepared to risk for him?

Readings for Tuesday of 33rd week of Ordinary Time: 2 Maccabees 6.18-31; Psalm 3.2-3, 4-5, 6-7; Luke 19.1-10

Are you a risk taker? Some people love to take what seem like crazy risks, and enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with it. It might be racing fast cars, jumping out of aeroplanes, or scaling a sheer rock face with no safety rope. For others, the greatest risk they might take in life is going out of the house on an overcast day without an umbrella!

In our readings today we see people being prepared to take great risks, but also reaping great rewards. Our first reading at mass at the moment is taken from the books of the Maccabees, which tell of how the Jewish people were oppressed by the Seleucid Empire in the second century BC. The Seleucids tried to eradicate the Jewish way of life, and in today’s passage, they try to force Eleazar, an important Jewish scribe, to eat pig’s flesh, which was contrary to Jewish law. He takes the huge risk of refusing, and will not even pretend to do so to save his life. Eleazar is killed for his resistance, but we are told he becomes a great example of courage to his fellow Jews.

In the Gospel Jesus runs the risk of scandal by not only approaching a hated tax collector, but also by going to his house for tea. Zaccheus, meanwhile, risks the nice livelihood he has developed by cheating people of more than they owe when collecting their taxes. And yet both gain a reward: Jesus, in his own words, has rescued a lost soul, while Zaccheus is finally able to live an honest life and is now in a right relationship with God and his community. Jesus is always ready to run the risk of reaching out to us in love, no matter what we have done. Are we prepared to risk everything by responding?

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how prayer can be likened to heckling God – and he doesn’t seem to mind at all!

Readings for Monday in the 33rd week of Ordinary Time: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-64; Psalm 119.53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158; Luke 18.35-43

Heckling in political speeches or meetings has been around for a long time. Someone objects to what is being said on stage, and so they make their feelings known very loudly. The difference today is that the moment when a heckler gets up is often captured on television or smartphone cameras, and all of the action – from the startled look on the face of the speaker, to the heckler themselves, to the person being being bustled out of the hall by security – is replayed endlessly on the news or online. Often it’s not very clear what the heckler wants. Do they have a genuine grievance, are they seeking simply to disrupt the speech or meeting, or are they wanting publicity?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus faces a sort of heckler, though he’s not speaking at the time. He is simply drawing near to Jericho and passes a blind beggar at the roadside. Hearing that Jesus is coming past, the man starts shouting out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’. A bit like in a political meeting, those around Jesus try to tell him to be quiet, but this makes him shout all the louder. Jesus himself doesn’t seem to mind this noise and disturbance. In fact, he comes up to the man and asks what he wants, what is causing him to shout out, and the man replies that he wants his sight back. Perhaps it was his desperation for healing that led him to make such a scene. Once the man has been healed, we are told that he doesn’t pipe down – he is still vocal, but this time his words have changed from a cry of anguish and a plea for healing to glorifying and praising God.

The passage tells us a lot about how we should approach God in prayer. He doesn’t mind if we shout or holler, or cry out in despair. He will never shoo us away, but will come to us in our need and gently ask what is on our heart. He will always seek to bring healing in the midst of our difficulties, so that, like the blind man who was healed, our cries of despair may turn into shouts of joyful praise.