NOVEMBER 23, 2018 : FRIDAY OF THE THIRTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 501

Reading 1 Rv 10:8-11

I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.
Then the voice spoke to me and said:
"Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land."
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, "Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."
I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Then someone said to me, "You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings."

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

R. (103a) How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!

Gospel Lk 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.

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Meditation: "All the people hung upon his words "

Why did Jesus drive out the money changers in the temple at Jerusalem? Was he upset with their greediness? This is the only incident in the Gospels where we see Jesus using physical force. Jesus went to Jerusalem, knowing he would meet certain death on the cross, but victory as well for our sake. His act of judgment in the temple is meant to be a prophetic sign and warning to the people that God takes our worship very seriously. In this incident we see Jesus' startling and swift action in cleansing the temple of those who were using it to exploit the worshipers of God. The money changers took advantage of the poor and forced them to pay many times more than was right – in the house of God no less! Their robbery of the poor was not only dishonoring to God but unjust toward their neighbor. In justification for his audacious action Jesus quotes from the prophets Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:11). His act of judgment aims to purify the worship of God's people and to discipline their erring ways. Despite the objections of the religious leaders, no doubt because Jesus was usurping their authority in the house of God, the people who listened to Jesus teaching daily in the temple regarded him with great awe and respect. Luke tells us that "they hung upon Jesus' words" (Luke 19:48). How hungry are you for God's word?
If we approach God's word with a humble attentive heart and with a willingness to be taught by the Lord, then we are in a good place to allow God's word to change and transform us in the likeness of Christ. The Lord wants to teach us his ways so that we may grow in holiness. The Lord both instructs and disciplines us in love to lead us from the error of our sinful ways to his truth and justice. "God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). The Lord calls us to be a holy people who worship him with reverence and gratitude for his great mercy and kindness towards us. Do you allow God's word to transform you in his way of love and holiness?
"Lord Jesus, you open wide the door of your house and you bid us to enter confidently that we may worship you in spirit and truth. Help me to draw near to you with gratitude and joy for your great mercy. May I always revere your word and give you acceptable praise and worship."
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23
LUKE 19:45-48
(Revelation 10:8-11; Psalm: 119)

KEY VERSE: "My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves" (v 46).
READING: When Jesus entered the precincts of the Jerusalem Temple and saw all the money changers there, he was filled with righteous indignation. God intended that the Temple would be a "house of prayer" (Is.56:7), but it had become a "den of thieves" (Jer 7:11). Jesus swiftly acted to cleanse the Temple of the abusive practices. His actions represented divine judgment against the religious leaders who failed to instruct the people as to the meaning of true worship. The leaders were outraged and wanted to do away with Jesus, but because of his popularity, they could not find a way. By Jesus' actions, he took possession of the Temple as its legitimate and authoritative teacher. From that time until his arrest, the Temple would be the center of his ministry.
REFLECTING: What do I do to help make my parish a true place of worship?
PRAYING:Lord Jesus, help me to respect your holy dwelling place.

Optional Memorial of Clement I, pope and martyr

Clement was the fourth Pope and Apostolic Father. The Basilica of St Clement in Rome is one of the earliest parish churches in the city, and is probably built on the site of Clement's home. He is the author of the "Epistle to the Corinthians". His name occurs in the Canon of the Mass. Origen and St Jerome identify him as working with Saint Paul the Apostle.: Lord Jesus, help me to respect your holy dwelling place.

Optional Memorial of Columban, abbot

Columban was an Irish monk. He went to France and founded many monasteries which he guided with strict discipline. Soon his followers were also building monasteries in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. He was forced into exile by the Frankish King. He went to Italy and founded there the monastery at Bobbio, which was a center of culture and learning as well as spirituality.

LECTIO: LUKE 19,45-48

Lectio: 

 Friday, November 23, 2012  

Ordinary Time 

1) Opening prayer
Father of all that is good,
keep us faithful in serving you,
for to serve you is our lasting joy.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 19,45-48
Jesus went into the Temple and began driving out those who were busy trading, saying to them, 'According to scripture, my house shall be a house of prayer but you have turned it into a bandits' den.'
He taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, in company with the leading citizens, tried to do away with him, but they could not find a way to carry this out because the whole people hung on his words.

3) Reflection
• Context. Luke after having described the journey of Jesus going up to Jerusalem (11-19, 28) now presents him while he is carrying out his activity in the context of the Temple. After the entrance of the one sent by the Lord into Jerusalem passing through the door on the East (19, 45), the Temple becomes the first place where Jesus carries out his activity: the controversies that are narrated take place in this place and they refer to this. Jesus’ going to the Temple is not only a personal fact but also concerns the “multitude of his disciples” (v. 37) on their relationship with God (vv. 31-34). Luke above all, presents a first episode in which are presented the preparations for the entrance of Jesus into the Temple (vv. 29-36) and their realization (vv. 37-40); then follows a scene where we find the passage of today’s liturgy: his installation in the Temple and driving out the sellers from the Temple (vv. 45-48).
• The gesture of Jesus. This does not have a political value but a prophetic significance. The reader thinks that the great purpose of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem is the entrance into the Temple. To recall the prophecy of Malachi is evident that is fulfilled at the entrance of Jesus into the Temple: “And suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to his Temple...” (3, 1). The gesture of driving out the sellers from the Temple is accompanied by Jesus with two references to Scripture. Above all, Is 56, 7: “My house will be a house of prayer”. The Temple is the place in which Jesus turns back to the Father. The commercial and business activity has made the Temple a den of bandits and has deprived it of its only and exclusive function: the encounter with the presence of God. The second reference from Scripture: is taken from Jeremiah 7, 11: “Do you look on this Temple that bears my name as a den of bandits?” The image of the den of bandits serves Jesus to condemn the material traffic on the one side and not only the dishonest traffic of trade or business that in a hidden and illegal way was carried out in the Temple. Jesus demands a complete change: to purify the Temple from all that human negative things and to bring it back to its original function: to render an authentic service to God. And driving out those impostors of the trade and business the prophecy of Zechariah is fulfilled: «There will be no more traders in the Temple of Yahweh Sabaoth, when that Day comes” (14, 21). These words of Jesus on the Temple are not directed to a restoration of the purity of the cult or worship, as was the intention of the Zelots. The intention of Jesus goes beyond the purity of the cult; it is more radical, intransigent: the Temple is not a work done by human efforts; the presence of God is not bound to its material aspect; the authentic service of God is carried out by Jesus through his teaching. Because of this preaching “the high priests and the Scribes together with the leading citizens tried to do away with him” (v. 47). Within this temporary place of the Temple Jesus carries out a highly significant teaching, in fact, it is precisely in this place that is so fundamental for the Jews that his teaching reaches the summit and it will be from here that the words of the Apostles will begin also (Act 5, 12.20.25.42). The diffusion of the Word of grace of which Jesus is the only bearer extends itself like an arch that begins with his opposition, when he was still only twelve years old in the Temple among the doctors of the Law; it is prolonged with his teaching when going across Galilee and during his journey to Jerusalem; until he entered the Temple where he takes possession of the house of God. The bases for the future mission of the Church are placed in this place: the diffusion of the Word of God. The heads of the people do not intend to suppress Jesus for having ruined the progress of the economic affairs of that time, but the reasons go back to all his previous activity of teaching and now these act in his discourse against the temple. Jesus claims something and this causes the reaction of the high priests and of the Scribes to break out. In contrast with this hostile behaviour one can see the positive one of the people who “are hanging from his words”. Jesus is considered as the Messiah who gathers around him with his Word of grace the people of God. 

4) Personal questions
• Does your prayer to the Lord consist in a simple relationship of father to son in which to find all the strength to communicate with God, or rather is it accompanied by uses and practices to gain over his goodness?
• When you listen to the Word of Jesus do you feel seized by his teaching like the crowds who hung from his words? Or rather are you sufficiently attentive to listen to the Gospel and do you adhere to Christ?

5) Concluding Prayer
The Law you have uttered is more precious to me
than all the wealth in the world.
How pleasant your promise to my palate,
sweeter than honey in my mouth! (Ps 119,72.103)

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