Simeon’s Song of Praise, Aert de Gelder, c. 1700-1710 (Wikipedia)
FIRST READING
Malachi 3:1–4
February 2, 2020
We examined Malachi 3:10–20 several months ago. It spoke of the “Day of the Lord”. It was a time of testing for the Jewish people who returned to Jerusalem at the invitation of the Persian king, Cyrus. A theme throughout the prophets is that, although the evil of the enemies of the Jews may be greater in extent, the evil of the Jews is greater in intent. Because they are the chosen people, they will be held to a higher standard as they must fulfill a higher mission. When looking at the “Day of the Lord,” we read today’s passage as well to see where they had failed to live up to their calling. Today we will look again and pay particular attention to how the entire book of Malachi shows the development of the Jewish understanding of the afterlife which we, as Catholic Christians, have inherited.
Malachi wrote between 500 and 450 BC during a time of great distress and disappointment for the people of Jerusalem. Enough Jews had returned to Jerusalem after the exile in Babylon to start rebuilding but the results were less than impressive. The temple had been reconstructed, but it was a small structure and the funds to continue were either not forthcoming or stolen. The passage before the one chosen for today reads: Continue reading “Feast of the Presentation of the Lord – To Praise, To Live”