To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Commentary on the Gospel – November 21, 2025
The Purification of the House of God
The struggle for faith led by Judas Maccabeus reaches a climactic moment in the purification of the Temple. Human responsibility in receiving the Word of God also means keeping God’s house clean and in proper order. Sometimes, as in the case of Judas, impurity enters through external influences: the idols of this world can infiltrate the Temple, the Church, our customs and ideas, our way of life. It is important to remain watchful against these external enemies that can distort our faith. But we also see Jesus Himself carrying out a purification of the Temple—and this time, those who defile it and turn it into a den of thieves are the very representatives of the people of God. For the temple festivals in Jerusalem, they organized a marketplace that, while it may have had a legitimate purpose—pilgrims needed animals for sacrifice and money changers to exchange currencies—had improperly invaded the sacred space of the Temple, likely generating significant (and not entirely legitimate) profits for the religious authorities.
The purification of the Temple symbolizes the ongoing process of purification that each of us must undertake in order to grow in the spirit of the Gospel and overcome the worldly spirit that seduces us in so many ways. Sometimes we take steps toward this purification ourselves, through personal and communal examinations of conscience and through the sacrament of reconciliation. But at other times, these moments of purification arrive unexpectedly, and we may feel shaken or even hurt by them—through criticisms, corrections, or observations directed at us when we least expect them. At times, Jesus’ whip strikes us, calling us to wake up, to humbly acknowledge what is not right in our lives, and to return to the right path.
Today we celebrate the memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It foreshadows that other presentation—the bringing of the newborn Jesus to the Temple—which is also the purification of Mary. If even Mary, who was without sin, had the humility to undergo a rite of purification, how much more must we, who are sinners, submit ourselves frequently to the purification that Jesus brings us—sometimes even through a few symbolic lashes.
Fraternally,