Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: November 22, 2024

Date: Memorial of St. Cecelia

Scripture Text: 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.

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

The gospel for today recounts Jesus’ response when seeing the Temple turned into a market rather than a sanctuary of prayer. The reading also shows the tension between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem. But it ends not in tension but in the response of the people to Jesus’ words.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

How do I receive Jesus’ words? Do I savor them and seek to honor them by living them?

Praying:

LORD, Open my mind and heart to your divine will and the purpose which You wove into my very being. Help me to live as You call me to live so that every step of my journey brings me closer to You and to the one You created me be to be. Amen.