Luke 19:45-48

Revelation 10:8-11

Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131

Luke 19:45-48

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out

those who were selling things, saying to them,

“It is written,

My house shall be a house of prayer,

but you have made it a den of thieves.”

And every day he was teaching in the temple area.

The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,

were seeking to put him to death,

but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose

because all the people were hanging on his words.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I have been washed clean through Baptism and crafted into your temple. May I always be a holy dwelling for you in this world. My heart is yours. Reign in my heart always, guide my steps, and empower my good works.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Cleansing of the Temple: Jesus’ dramatic expulsion of Temple merchants is both a prophecy and a pre-enactment of the Temple’s imminent downfall (Luke 21:5-36). When Jesus entered the Temple, he saw the corruption permitted by Caiaphas, the High Priest. Instead of continuing the practice of pilgrims purchasing animals at a market on the Mount of Olives, Caiaphas permitted vendors to sell animals in the outer court of the Temple itself, known as the Court of the Gentiles. By driving out the sellers, Jesus brings to fulfillment a prophecy of Zechariah: “No longer will there be merchants in the house of the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 14:21; see Gadenz, The Gospel of Luke, 330). The old Temple is passing away and, as we read in the First Reading, will one day be destroyed. Jesus, by contrast, is the New Temple, a place where we can enter into communion with God and receive divine instruction.

2. The Prophecy of John: In our reading of the Book of Revelation, the liturgy skips from John’s vision of the heavenly liturgies of creation and redemption in chapters 4 and 5 to John’s vision of a mighty angel in chapter 10. In Revelation 8-11, John contemplates the destruction of an earthly city, Jerusalem, that causes God’s temple to be opened in Revelation 11:19. In the First Reading, from Revelation 10:8-11, John is commanded to eat a scroll, much like the prophet Ezekiel did centuries before (Ezekiel 3:1-3). The scroll is sweet as honey at first, but then sour: “That the scroll then becomes sour, may be an allusion to Ezekiel as well, since after eating the scroll Ezekiel is told to foretell the coming destruction of Jerusalem and goes out in ‘bitterness’ (Ezekiel 3:14). In the same way, John proceeds in the next chapter to announce the destruction of the city ‘where the Lord was crucified,’ i.e., Jerusalem” (Barber, Coming Soon, 136).

3. How Sweet to My Taste is Your Promise: The Responsorial Psalm today invites us to see God’s law, promises, word, and decrees as more delightful and valuable than earthly riches, more precious than gold and silver, and sweeter than honey. This is because the Law of the Lord makes a person wise (Psalm 119:98-100, 104). “Psalm 119 reminds us that the Law of God – whether summarized in the Ten Commandments, the Double Commandment of Love, or the Sermon on the Mount – is not burdensome drudgery but a path to liberty and to life” (Bergsma, Psalm Basics for Catholics, 133). Another lesson of Psalm 119 is that suffering is the means by which one truly comes to learn God’s statutes. During our suffering and affliction, we are asked to persevere and endure righteously and trust in the Lord to deliver us (see Barber, Singing in the Reign, 129).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you called your Father’s will your food. I, too, desire to be nourished by this food. Help me to know your Father’s will for me in every moment. Give me the strength to accomplish it.

Living the Word of God: Can I take some time today to pray the entirety of Psalm 119? Which verses move my heart the most? What lessons did I learn from praying the psalm? How can my prayer conform better to the inspired words of the psalm?