From the Pastor's Desk | November 17, 2024

Gospel Reflection

There is a lot going on in Jesus’s words in the Gospel today!  Today’s Gospel begins with Mark chapter 13 verses 24 through 32.  For context, let’s back up and acknowledge verses 14 through 23.  Beginning in verse 14, Jesus speaks of the ‘desolating abomination’ and warns the people of Israel when they see the desolating abomination they should flee.  This desolating abomination is first encountered in the book of Daniel referencing the idol of the Greek god Zeus erected in the temple by the Syrian leader Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 B.C.  

A desolating abomination is a sacrilege so shocking that it leads to the utter destruction of the temple and the surrounding city.  (It is important to note that God is not the cause of this destruction as some would say.  Rather, He allows this destruction and calamity to spur on the conversion of hearts; to turn people back toward Himself; to change the hearts of His people).  Jesus, in one sense, is foreshadowing the final desecration and destruction of the temple by Rome.  In 67 A.D., the Zealots, a political movement in first century Israel who incited excitement and violence against Rome, took over the temple as their headquarters and appointed their own high priest.  This led to many murders among Jewish factions and led to the first Roman-Jewish War.  Following this takeover, in 70 A.D., the Roman general Titus, Vespasian’s son, entered the city of Jerusalem in the spring massacring many of its residents.  On August 30, 70 A.D., the Romans overtook the temple’s defenders and set fire to it.  They stripped all of the sacred contents and removed every stone of its foundation thus ending temple worship in Judaism.  

The Romans celebrated their victory by erecting the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting the Romans carrying off the Temple’s seven branched menorah and other sacred objects.  Many Jews left Judea following the revolt.  The loss of the Temple is still mourned on the fast of Tisha B’Av - the day of national mourning for the Temples.  You probably have at least heard of or know of the Western Wall, otherwise known as the Wailing Wall.  This is the western retaining wall of the hill known as the Temple Mount and dates back to Herod the Great.         

To understand the significance of the Temple, we must go back all the way to the Exodus (chapters 25-31 and 35-40) to understand the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle.  On Mount Sinai, following the exodus out of Egypt, God commanded Moses to construct and carry with them the Tabernacle as they sojourned the desert seeking the Promised Land.  

The word tabernacle in Hebrew means “to dwell, to rest, to live in.”  The tabernacle had to be constructed in a very precise way.  It was essentially a large rectangular tent surrounded by a large rectangular enclosed court.  Within the enclosed court but not in the tent was the altar of sacrifice where the sacrificial offerings would be offered and burnt.  Within the tent was an outer room called the Holy Place in which one would enter through a door.  Within the Holy Place resided the altar of incense, the table for showbread, and the lampstand (seven-branched menorah).  Beyond the Holy Place and partitioned with a veil was the Holy of Holies.  Within the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant (a gold plated wooden chest) containing the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, a golden pot of manna, and eventually Aaron’s rod.  On top of the ark was placed the atonement cover, or mercy seat, with two angels facing the mercy seat.  The mercy seat is where God resided.  The Holy of Holies was only to be entered by Moses and then, subsequently, by the High Priest and was off limits to anyone else.

After 440 years, Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah - the same place where Abraham was led to sacrifice his son Isaac.  The Temple was constructed in the same manner as the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting but was no longer moveable.  It was a permanent and imposing structure.  This original Temple was sacked by the Egyptians then again by the Assyrians in 700 B.C.  The Second Temple was reconstructed under the order of Cyrus the Great in 538 B.C.  

What was the importance of the Temple?  The Temple was everything for the Jewish people.  It was more than a place of worship.  It was the place of right worship.  It is where humanity met divinity.  It is where God met creation.  The Temple symbolized the entirety of the universe.  You would have seen the stars, sun, and moon embroidered on various fabrics and curtains.  The seven-branched menorah symbolized the sun, moon, and the five known planets at the time.  The Temple was the center of Jewish life.  The Jewish people were required to travel to Jerusalem three times a year on various feasts to offer sacrifice at the Temple according to the prescripts of the law (see Leviticus and Deuteronomy). 

How does Jesus relate to the Temple?  Within the person of Jesus, humanity meets divinity.  God takes on flesh and therefore we rightly say that, though Jesus was one person, He had two natures - divine and human.  The Temple foreshadows Jesus - the Christ; the anointed one.  In John 2:19, responding to His accusers, Jesus says, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up” alluding to Himself as the Temple.  

With this extensive context in mind, the Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us further insight into what Jesus was talking about with his troubling and concerning language.  On the threshold of his Passion, Jesus announced the coming destruction of this splendid building, of which there would not remain “one stone upon another.”  By doing so, he announced a sign of the last days, which were to begin with His own Passover.  But this prophecy would be distorted in its telling by false witnesses during His interrogation at the high priest’s house and would be thrown back at Him as an insult when He was nailed to the cross (CCC 585).  

So what is the desolating abomination?  Jesus’s Passion and death.  In our Gospel today, Jesus is also foreshadowing His Passion and death that would usher in the age of the Church and the beginning of the end times with all of its tribulations.  We ourselves are living in the end times, the parousia, and have been ever since Jesus suffered, died on the Cross, rose on the third day, and ascended to His Father.  For our part, we must remain oriented toward Jesus, not just in words but in our attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, and actions as we await his second coming.  “When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace” (CCC 682).

The Holy Spirit was given to us as our advocate, guide, aid, and help through these end times.  The Holy Spirit is continually at work “from the beginning to the completion of the plan for our salvation.  But in these ‘end times,’ ushered in by the Son’s redeeming Incarnation, the Spirit is revealed and given, recognized and welcomed as a person.  Now can this divine plan, accomplished in Christ, the firstborn and head of the new creation, be embodied in mankind by the outpouring of the Spirit; as the Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” (CCC 686).

As we continue to contemplate the four last things - heaven, hell, judgment, and death - let us not be afraid.  Rather, let us stand with confidence in the Holy Spirit knowing that we are given both the grace of strength to live the Christian life - to orient our entire beings toward Christ - and the recourse to forgiveness when we stumble and fall.  

Know of my prayers for you all! 

Fr. Ryan