An Acquired Taste
Nov. 22: Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
The Second Temple1 is not the same as the churches we attend today. Christianity isn’t nearly as small a population, so we can’t all go to a central location, as the Jews did at the time of the Second Temple.
Yet, we’re allowed to encounter God in a direct way that the ancients didn’t have—the Eucharist! We should be grateful for that.
Reading 1
Rv 10:8-11
I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me. Then the voice spoke to me and said: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. He said to me, “Take and swallow it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it. In my mouth it was like sweet honey, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
The message of salvation sounds good, at the start. Forgiveness of sins sounds so easy. That’s why the scroll tastes good.
But just as the scroll becomes a part of John, we see that accepting God into our hearts and allowing Him to be a part of us is not an easy process. It can be difficult, and bitter. But even as we learn that there are going to be challenges and disappointments in life, we still have to carry on.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
R. (103a) How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Scripture can be an acquired taste, given how different its style is from modern writing. But that shouldn’t stop us from trying to acquire the taste, because it truly is sweet in the end, despite some bitter undertones.
Alleluia
Jn 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We go to mass and read the Bible to hear God’s voice. The way to show we’re listening is that we actually follow what we hear.
Gospel
Lk 19:45-48
Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, "It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."
And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.
Here we see the temple being used as a shop to sell things. That’s not holy, not “set apart;” it’s just like any other building in the city. Jesus comes in and asserts His authority—this is His Father’s house! He’ll see it respected.
The scribes and chief priests were jealous of that authority, but they couldn’t find any way to condemn Him. Why? Because He was right, and they knew it!
We should regard our churches the same way Jesus treated the Temple—a place for encountering God. We shouldn’t let anything interfere with that.
We read about Solomon’s and the Second Temple today.