Magnificat anima mea Dominum. My soul glorifies the Lord. As I begin my prayer today, what do I want to give thanks for, to praise God for? For these few moments, I allow my mind to dwell on those things for which I am grateful to God.

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 19:45-48

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, ‘It is written,

“My house shall be a house of prayer”;

but you have made it a den of robbers.’

Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

Animal sacrifice was central to the worship in the Jewish temple. Its outer precincts, then, were rather like a busy farmers’ market. Imagine that you have made your way to the temple to meet God in prayer. What would you have made of the commotion that surrounds you there?

Jesus offers a different vision of what a place that helps people find God looks like. What kind of surroundings do you find make it easier for you to encounter God in prayer?

The chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people feel themselves to be under attack from Jesus and his teaching. What is it in particular that seems to be upsetting them?

As the passage is read again, try to see what it is about Jesus’s words and actions that keep the people spellbound.

Luke 19:45-48

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, ‘It is written,

“My house shall be a house of prayer”;

but you have made it a den of robbers.’

Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

Talk, finally, to God, to Jesus, about whatever has caught your attention in this dramatic story.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be

World without end

Amen.