Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

 Lectionary: 501

And the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple;
The messenger of the covenant whom you desire, see, he is coming! says the LORD of hosts.

 L ong before the Lord entered the temple area and drove out those who were selling things, perhaps in the fifth century before Christ, Malachi had prophesied his coming. "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand firm when he appears?"

Arriving in Jerusalem after a long journey (which began in chapter 9) Jesus entered the temple and immediately purified it as the prophet had warned, 

For he will be like a refiner’s fire,

like fullers’ lye.

He will sit refining and purifying silver,

and he will purify the Levites,

Refining them like gold or silver,

that they may bring offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem

will please the LORD,

as in ancient days, as in years gone by. 

The "offering" is the sacrifice of himself on Calvary. But it will bless more than the Holy City and its denizens, it will reach all the nations of the world, as Isaiah had prophesied: 

All who keep the sabbath without profaning it

and hold fast to my covenant,

Them I will bring to my holy mountain

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be acceptable on my altar,

For my house shall be called

a house of prayer for all peoples.

The Evangelists don't seem to agree on why exactly the authorities  conspired to have Jesus crucified. Clearly he had pushed the religious leaders beyond the limits of their patience but what finally triggered their demand that the Roman authorities arrest and neutralize the threat? Was it his one-man riot in the temple, or his raising of Lazarus, or his healing many people, or just the disruption he caused as thousands of pilgrims arrived to celebrate the concurrence of Passover and the Sabbath? Clearly he had been arousing opposition from the outset in Galilee, and he had been warned not to go to Jerusalem. 

But the real reason -- far beyond the politics of that moment and the anxiety of Jewish authorities under Roman oppression -- was the establishment of an entirely new sacrifice which would be for all the people, as the Angel had said to the astonished shepherds,

...for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 

This new sacrifice required more than Abraham's son, Isaac. It demanded far more than sheep or heifers or the first fruits of the harvest. Only God himself could make such a sacrifice, and it could only be God's only Son. For that Jesus prepared the temple which, in any case, had become a den of thieves. 

For that Jesus prepares our hearts, which also become dens of iniquity because of our sins. The process is neither easy nor fun, but it is necessary and good. 

Daily and weekly the Church continues to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, joining our willing hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of his Mother, to offer the only sacrifice that can save the Earth and all its peoples. We enter the Mass as we ask the Lord to enter our hearts and purify them, that they might live within us,

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." (John 14:23)