From: Luke 19:45-48

Jesus in the Temple

[45] And He (Jesus) entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,
[46] saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you
have made it a den of robbers.”

[47] 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; [48] but they did not
find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon His words.

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Commentary:

45-48. Jesus’ indignation shows His zeal for the glory of His Father, to be recog-
nized at this time in the temple itself. He inveighs against the traders for engaging
in business which has nothing to do with divine worship (cf. Matthew 21:12; Mark
11-15). Even the priests allowed some of these abuses to go on — perhaps be-
cause they benefited from them in the form of taxes. The traders did perform ser-
vices necessary for divine worship but this was vitiated by their excessive desire
for gain, turning the temple into a marketplace.

“My house shall be a house of prayer”: Jesus uses these words from Isaiah
(56:7; cf. Jeremiah 7:11) to underline the purpose of the temple. Jesus’ behavior
shows the respect the Temple of Jerusalem deserved; how much more reverence
should be shown our churches, where Jesus Himself is really present in the Bles-
sed Sacrament (cf. notes on Matthew 21:12-13; and Mark 11:15-18).

[The notes on Matthew 21:12-13 states:

12-13. Although God is present everywhere and cannot be confined within the
walls of temples built by man (Acts 17:24-25), God instructed Moses to build a
tabernacle where He would dwell among the Israelites (Exodus 25:40). Once the
Jewish people were established in Palestine, King Solomon, also in obedience
to a divine instruction, built the temple of Jerusalem (1 Kings 6-8), where people
went to render public worship to God (Deuteronomy 12).

Exodus (23:15) commanded the Israelites not to enter the temple empty-handed,
but to bring some victim to be sacrificed. To make this easier for people who had
to travel a certain distance, a veritable market developed in the temple courtyards
with animals being bought and sold for sacrificial purposes. Originally this may
have made sense, but seemingly as time went on commercial gain became the
dominant purpose of this buying and selling of victims; probably the priests them-
selves and temple servants benefited from this trade or even operated it. The net
result was that the temple looked more like a livestock mart than a place for
meeting God.

Moved by zeal for His Father’s house (John 2:17), Jesus cannot tolerate this de-
plorable abuse and in holy anger He ejects everyone—to show people the respect
and reverence due to the temple as a holy place. We should show much greater
respect in the Christian temple — the Christian churches — where the eucharistic
sacrifice is celebrated and where Jesus Christ, God and Man, is really and truly
present, reserved in the tabernacle. For a Christian, proper dress, liturgical ges-
tures and postures, genuflections and reverence to the tabernacle, etc. are ex-
pressions of the respect due to the Lord in His temple.

[The notes on Mark 11:15-18 states:

15-18. Our Lord does not abide lack of faith or piety in things to do with the wor-
ship of God. If He acts so vigorously to defend the temple of the Old Law, it indi-
cates how we should truly conduct ourselves in the Christian temple, where He
is really and truly present in the Blessed Eucharist. “Piety has its own good
manners. Learn them. It’s a shame to see those ‘pious’ people who don’t know
how to attend Mass — even though they go daily, nor how to bless themselves
(they throw their hands about in the weirdest fashion), nor how to bend the knee
before the Tabernacle (their ridiculous genuflections seem a mockery), nor how
to bow their heads reverently before a picture of our Lady” (St. J. Escriva, “The
Way”, 541).]

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading	Apocalypse 10:8-11 ©

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.’

Psalm	Psalm 118:14,24,72,103,111,131 ©

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.

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

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 promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

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.

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation	cf.2Tim1:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death

and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.

Alleluia!

Or	Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Gospel	Luke 19:45-48 ©

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.