The Temple of God , the place of prayer, degenerated into a sort of marketplace.

Jesus needed to challenge the drift and reassert its holiness.

From the house churches of the early Church to the basilicas of Rome,

from grand cathedrals to simple structures made by the worshippers themselves.

No matter how ornate or simple the structure, these spaces were made holy

by the sacrifice of praise offered there and the presence of Christ that abides.

 

St. Cecilla, virgin & martyr

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Revelation 10:8-11

And the voice

I had heard from heaven spoke again, saying to me, "Go near the angel who stands on the sea and on the land, and take the small book open in his hand." So, I approached the angel and asked him for the small book; he said to me, "Take it and eat; although it be sweet as honey in your mouth, it will be bitter to your stomach."

 

I took the small book from the hand of the angel, and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach. Then, I was told, "You must, again, proclaim God's words, about many peoples, nations, tongues and kings."

 

Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131 How sweet to my taste is your promise.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Luke 19:45-48

Then Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out the merchants. And he said to them, "God says in the Scriptures, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of robbers!"

Jesus was teaching every day in the temple. The chief priests and teachers of the law wanted to kill him, and the elders of the Jews as well, but they were unable to do anything, for all the people were listening to him and hanging on his words.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"House of prayer." 

The Lucan account of the cleansing of the temple appears not as elaborate as the others in terms of describing how fierce Jesus was (Mk. 11:15-19; Mt 21:12-17; Jn 2:13-16). Luke simply narrates that Jesus drove out the merchants. Luke ends the pericope by narrating that Jesus was teaching every day in the temple.

 

Interestingly, this particular line is followed immediately by telling that the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders of the Jews wanted to kill Jesus. Luke may have toned down the depiction of Jesus' physical assault to the temple but we may reflect on the fact that Jesus' teachings must have shaken the then existing status quo, earning the ire of the powers that be in those days.

 

The passage ends by telling that these powerful people were not able to accomplish their plan of killing Jesus because the people were listening to and hanging on to his words. Later on, Jesus would be killed. This implies that the people stopped listening to him.