FIRST READING
“I took the little scroll and ate it.”
A reading from the Book of Revelation (Revelation 10:8-11)
The voice which I, John, had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, “Take it and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth.” And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 119:14.24.72.103.111. 131 (R. 103a)
R/. How sweet is your promise to my tongue, O Lord!
I rejoice in the way of your precepts,
as though all riches were mine. R.
See, your decrees are my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors. R.
The law from your mouth means more to me
than large quantities of silver and gold. R.
How sweet is your promise to my tongue,
more than honey in the mouth. R.
Your decrees are my heritage forever,
the joy of my heart. R.
I have opened my mouth and I sigh,
for I yearn for your commands. R.
ALLELUIA John10:27
Alleluia. My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; and I know them, and they follow me. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
You have made my house a den of robbers.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 19:45-48)
At that time: Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Jesus was full of zeal for his father’s house. He drove out those who made the Temple a den of robbers. The money changers charged extra money. Those selling animals often sold ten times more costly than the normal market prices. He certainly stepped on the toes of all those who benefited from this injustice and legalized robbery and the broad victimization of the poor pilgrims. Even today we turn God’s house into a house of business and a den of robbers rather than a house of prayer. According to the psalmist the law from the mouth of God means more to him than large quantities of silver and gold. This should also be the same for us.