The Memorial of St Cecilia

1 Macc. 4:36-37.52-59, Lk. 19:45-48. The famous Temple in Jerusalem needed to be re-consecrated, after being desecrated by the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes as reported in today's first reading. In today's Gospel, Jesus cleanses the same Temple, that had been profaned by the traders who bought and sold there, like a noisy market-place. Today, we are invited to shape our lives and our Church into a worthy place of prayer, a Temple pleasing to God. Jesus grieves over Jerusalem for failing to recognize its hour of grace. When He entered the Temple and drove out the noisy traders, His objection was not to the sacrifices as such, but to the abuse of religion by merchants for financial gain rather than true worship of God.

Purifying our own Temple means making more space for God to be the guide of our lives. Our finances and being must be guided by justice and compassion. In this sense, we can bring every aspect of our daily lives: family and neighbourhood, work and recreation, into the Temple to be purified and placed under God’s protection. This may require a conversion as radical as the cleansing of the Temple. As we renew our attachment to God it will apply to us that: “My house is a house of prayer.” The full ideal is that God be worshipped by our whole heart and being. St Cecilia whose memorial we celebrate, worshipped God with her being as she suffered martyrdom for the love of Christ. No-one knows quite why she should suddenly have become popular in the middle of the sixth century, some 200 years after her death, and her association with music is also a mystery.

May the Lord inspire us to offer sincere worship to God in truth and spirit! Amen!! Good morning and have a pleasant day!!!