Meditation
for Thursday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Haggai
1:1-8; Lk 9:7-9)
“Haggai” is a beautiful Hebrew name meaning, “Festive.”
Haggai’s prophecy came at the end of the Babylonian exile, during the
rebuilding of the temple as ordered by Cyrus, king of Persia. He was among the
twelve minor prophets, who delivered messages to Zerubbabel, the governor of
Judah, who supervised the reconstruction of the temple. The Israelites encountered
a lot of opposition and challenges in the rebuilding (Cf Ezra 4:1-5), which
made them discouraged and they stopped the work. Then, the prophet Haggai
stepped in to encourage the people to resume the work.
Haggai asked, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in
your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Consider how you have fared.
You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough;
you drink, but you never have your fill…” The prophet urged them to go back to
work on the temple that the Lord God may be pleased with them and blessed them
and grant them satisfaction.
Pause and meditate on what it means for a Christian of
today to live comfortably in his or her ‘paneled house’ and neglect the ‘Temple
of God.’ Such can be compared to the situation of Herod the tetrarch, who broke
God’s law, beheaded John the Baptist from the comfort of his palace, to protect
his pride, and satisfy his wife and daughter. At the end, he lived in
perplexity, uncertainty and sadness. Hearing the name of Jesus became a ‘riot’
in the heart of Herod! In the words of prophet Haggai, consider how Herod
fared! But if we build up the temple of God by living spiritual lives, and
aligning our bodies to the divine law, then, the Lord God will be pleased with
us, the Holy Spirit will make His home in us, and the sweet name of Jesus will uplift
our hearts. Think about the freedom of heart and the power we shall possess,
and the Lord will bless us and satisfy us. Amen.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.
Thursday September 28, 2023.
