33rd Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 24th November 2023 – 1 Macc 4,36-37.52-59; Lk 19,45-48
Celebrating Purification
In the first reading, the desecrated Jerusalem Temple is being purified and re-dedicated by Judas Maccabees and his companions. Temple, being the centre of Jewish religious life and an inspiration for observing Law in its fullness, is one of the principal objectives of the rebels. When the Hellenist authorities occupied and took control of Jerusalem, they looted the valuable and valued furnishings of the Temple and profaned them with pagan images. Judas and those faithful to the Hebrew traditions fought a guerrilla war and drove out the gentile forces. As they regained control of Jerusalem, they removed and destroyed all the pagan images and re-furnished the Temple. A new altar was built in its place and a new table was installed. On the anniversary of the desecration, they celebrated the Dedication of the Temple with an eight-day festival of lights, which has come down to our current age as the celebration of Hanukkah, the most important feasts on the Jewish calendar. These lamps, symbolizing the Law, were placed not only in the Temple, but in private houses assuring the popularity of the feast. This feast though began in Maccabean times, is also mentioned in Jesus’ time in the Gospel of John, “at that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem” (Jn 10,22).
