There are seasons when life feels like pouring earnings into a bag with holes—busy, productive, and yet strangely unfulfilled. Today’s readings trace that feeling back to disordered priorities: paneled houses flourishing while the Lord’s house lies neglected; a king fascinated by Jesus but unwilling to change; a people invited not into shame but into joy because “the Lord takes delight in his people.” The Scriptures hold out a path from restlessness to restoration.
Paneled Houses and Holes in Our Pockets (Haggai 1:1-8)
The prophet Haggai speaks to a people who have delayed rebuilding the temple, saying, “The time has not yet come” (Hag 1:2). Meanwhile, their own paneled homes are in fine order. God’s diagnosis is piercing: you sow much and reap little; you eat but are not satisfied; you earn, but your wages slip away “for a bag with holes in it” (Hag 1:6). It is not simply a matter of construction schedules; it is a matter of the heart’s architecture.
Augustine understood this dynamic with incisive clarity. He taught that our lives unravel when our loves are out of order (ordo amoris). We love many good things—work, family, home—but when they displace love for God, even good things become strangely unsatisfying. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” he confessed, not as poetry only but as diagnosis and cure (Confessions I.1). Haggai’s refrain, “Consider your ways!” (Hag 1:5, 7), is a gentle but firm invitation to re-center: go up the hills, gather timber, and build the Lord’s house, “that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified” (Hag 1:8). Reordering our loves is not about despising our homes; it is about letting God be at the center so that every other good can flourish in its proper place.
Curiosity Without Conversion (Luke 9:7-9)
Herod hears of Jesus and is perplexed. Rumors swirl—John raised, Elijah returned, an ancient prophet arisen (Lk 9:7-8). Herod wants to see Jesus (Lk 9:9), but this is the curiosity of a spectator, not the turning of a disciple. He had silenced John’s voice rather than repent (cf. Lk 3:19-20), and now he treats Jesus like a puzzle to be solved rather than a Lord to be obeyed.
Modern versions of Herod’s posture are common: sampling spiritual content, scrolling through religious takes, admiring Jesus’ ethic, yet keeping him at arm’s length from our choices, our calendars, our budgets. The Gospel pushes the question past fascination to allegiance. The Alleluia verse answers Herod’s question, “Who then is this?” with the Church’s confession: “I am the way and the truth and the life… no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). Jesus is not an item of interest; he is the path back to the Father. Curiosity becomes conversion when we let that truth reorder how we live.
The Joy That Rebuilds (Psalm 149:1-9)
Haggai’s summons might sound like a rebuke, but the Psalm reveals God’s heart: “The Lord takes delight in his people… he adorns the lowly with victory” (Ps 149:4). God does not merely tolerate our return; he delights in it. The call to rebuild is not drudgery; it is a dance. “Sing to the Lord a new song” (Ps 149:1), the Psalm urges, because joy is not a reward at the end of obedience—it is a power that animates it. Those who humble themselves to place God first find that their steps, even tired ones, begin to move to a new rhythm of praise (Ps 149:5-6).
Building the House Today: Not Alone
Haggai’s temple points forward to the living temple of God’s people in Christ. Rebuilding, then, is personal and communal: prayer in the inner room and worship in the assembly (cf. Ps 149:1). St. Ignatius of Antioch, facing martyrdom, pleaded for unity in and around the Eucharist, insisting that where Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. His insistence that the bishop, presbyters, and deacons serve the unity of the faithful was not organizational fussiness; it was a vision of the Church as a house built together in charity and truth. To “build the house” today means letting our parishes, our families, and our friendships become places where Christ is truly at the center: the Eucharist reverently celebrated, the poor remembered, the Scriptures opened, forgiveness sought and given.
Augustine would add: let love be rightly ordered. When God holds first place, we will love our work more wisely, our homes more freely, and our neighbors more generously. The bag stops leaking when the heart stops drifting.
Practices for Today
Haggai’s “Consider your ways!” is concrete. Here are simple timbers to gather for the rebuilding:
- Daily examen: Spend five quiet minutes each evening asking, Where did I seek God today? Where did I avoid him? What will I do differently tomorrow? (Hag 1:5, 7)
- Return to the Eucharist: Commit unwaveringly to Sunday Mass and, if possible, one weekday liturgy or a weekly hour of adoration. Let Jesus, the Way, be the center (Jn 14:6; Ps 149:1).
- Rebuild with others: Join or form a small group for Scripture, service, or shared prayer. Unity is part of the house’s strength (echoing Ignatius of Antioch).
- Firstfruits generosity: Give the “first timber,” not the leftovers—time, attention, and resources—to God and the works of mercy (Hag 1:8).
- Repentance over curiosity: If there is a known sin or a long-delayed confession, choose conversion today rather than merely “wanting to see” Jesus from afar (Lk 9:9).
God does not ask for perfection before we start. He asks for obedience and trust. When the people of Haggai’s day lifted the first beams, God promised his presence among them; when we take our first steps, Jesus meets us on the way, because he is the Way (Jn 14:6). And as we rebuild, the Psalm reassures us: the delight is mutual. The Lord rejoices over a people who come home, and his joy becomes our strength (Ps 149:1, 4).