Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 28, 2017 - Thursday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Hag 1:1-8 and Luke 9:7-9]"Consider your ways! Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the Lord." [Haggai]
SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 ST. LAWRENCE RUIZ, OP and companions. Dominican martyrs in Japan.
The return from exile in Babylon seems to have presented a number of challenges to the returnees who were trying to establish some form of life. We know that they had some leadership and that worship was going on because Haggai's message is addressed to the political leader, Zerubbabel and the High Priest, Joshua. However, the temple had not been rebuilt. Haggai tells the leadership that the difficulties they are experiencing in getting re-established is because they have failed to put God's house before their own and have not rebuilt the temple!
I have known communities in the past which have been struck by natural disasters in which both church and homes were damaged and who rally immediately to repair the church! The church stood as the central symbol of the unity of the people. I have seen examples of this particularly in rural areas, but also in large cities where a particular Catholic parish church would symbolize an entire neighborhood. Haggai is reminding the people that they have neglected to restore the most important physical symbol of God's presence - the temple.
Haggai offers us the opportunity to reflect on the impact of our own parish church as a symbol of our faith. What significance does it have in this day and age? AMEN
[Note to the Beloved Congregation. From September 29 to October 11, I will be in Tucson, AZ, to preach a retreat for the priests of that diocese. Arizona is on California time until Daylight Savings Time ends. Therefore, WTTW will seem to arrive later in the day for those who live east of Pacific Time.]
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