Sharing the Word for November 24, 2017

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions

November 24, 2017

Daily Reading from the USCCB: 1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/SW_111811_I.mp3

After some initial defeats inflicted on the Hellenistic oppressors, the Jewish insurgents took possession of Jerusalem.

Their first task was to purify the temple and re-consecrate it to the service of God. This was completed on December 14, 164 B.C. The leaders of the people determined that the anniversary of the rededication of the temple should be observed every year from then on. Jewish people still observe it today.

The rededication of the temple wasn’t the end of the Jews’ struggle against the Greeks. There were still battles to be fought before the Jews could claim that their land was finally their own once more. The rededication of the temple however, enabled them to reassert their identity. They were God’s people. He was their God.