First reading Apocalypse 10:8-11
I was told to swallow the scroll, and to prophesy
I, John, heard the voice I had heard from heaven speaking to me again. ‘Go,’ it said ‘and take that open scroll out of the hand of the angel standing on sea and land.’ I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll, and he said, ‘Take it and eat it; it will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.’ So I took it out of the angel’s hand, and swallowed it; it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, ‘You are to prophesy again, this time about many different nations and countries and languages and emperors.’
Responsorial Psalm 118(119):14,24,72,103,111,131
Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.
I rejoiced to do your will
as though all riches were mine.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.
The law from your mouth means more to me
than silver and gold.
Your promise is sweeter to my taste
than honey in the mouth.
Your will is my heritage for ever,
the joy of my heart.
I open my mouth and I sigh
as I yearn for your commands.
Gospel Luke 19:45-48
You have turned God’s house into a robbers’ den
Jesus went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling. ‘According to scripture,’ he said ‘my house will be a house of prayer. But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.’
He taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, with the support of the leading citizens, tried to do away with him, but they did not see how they could carry this out because the people as a whole hung on his words.
_________________________________
House of prayer, not den of bandits
At times, our hearts are like robber’s dens full of selfishness, pride, anger and laziness that steal our joy and enthusiasm for living our faith. Instead, these ‘robbers’ harden our hearts towards God and make us indifferent towards others.
Today, Jesus invites us to let Him remove everything that robs us from living our faith fully. He wants to make our hardened hearts docile to love again, to be merciful again, to forgive again. We are not meant to become robbers’ den but a house of prayer where God dwells.
Reflective question:
Is God the centre of my life?
Is God the centre of my life?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
