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Gospel Reading for November 21, 2025 – Luke 19: 45-48
CEASES TO BE
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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The temple area indeed became a marketplace because it was there that pilgrims from far places would buy animals that they needed to present at the temple for certain rituals of penitence for their sins. The moneychangers were there to change their money into the specific currency required for the temple tax. Imagine the noise these activities created in a place that was supposed to be quiet and conducive to prayer.
But, there was an underlying reason for Jesus’ violent reaction. The temple practices reduced the true meaning of penitence and worship. What is the importance of the temple having its own currency? The sacrifice of animals were used to atone for the sins of the offeror such that the blood of the animals purified the offeror and this made them closer to God. In this day and time, this would be considered animal cruelty! Why should animals be made to pay for the sins of people? These practices find their roots in the Old Testament or even before Jesus came, but they put burden on the worshippers. On the other hand, Jesus always preached about Sabbath being made for man, and not man for Sabbath. He always preached about the great love of God and how a truly repentant sinner is easily forgiven. Imagine if we are asked to do all these before attending Sunday mass, people would probably lose interest in attending the mass! We have to thank our Church Fathers for making it easier for us to relate with, and be closer to God simply through the sacraments.
Today, the Church will also be a marketplace if it CEASES TO BE a place of peace and quiet, where people give reverence by their demeanor and physical appearance, and where worshippers are able to concentrate on listening to God’s Word, worship him and pray to him. This includes practical things, such as: solemnity in demeanor of ministers and servers, proper proclamation of the Word, uplifting singing, cleanliness, and even the things projected on the screen being spelled correctly and flashing the right slides, and so on and so forth. But most of all, it will become a marketplace if those of us who go to Church are hypocrites like the Pharisees – faithfully attending mass but not practicing in our daily lives the Word of God, and although we receive the Body of Christ in Holy Communion, we are not really in union with him because we are not bread broken and shared to the needy.
Lord, help us make ourselves temples of the Holy Spirit!
