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Today, 21st of November, we celebrate
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
I, John, saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice,
“Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth
was able to open the scroll or to examine it.
I shed many tears because no one was found worthy
to open the scroll or to examine it.
One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep.
The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed,
enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.”
Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne
and the four living creatures and the elders
a Lamb that seemed to have been slain.
He had seven horns and seven eyes;
these are the seven spirits of God sent out into the whole world.
He came and received the scroll from the right hand
of the one who sat on the throne.
When he took it,
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb.
Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense,
which are the prayers of the holy ones.
They sang a new hymn:
“Worthy are you to receive the scroll
and break open its seals,
for you were slain and with your Blood you purchased for God
those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.
You made them a kingdom and priests for our God,
and they will reign on earth.”
R./ The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or: Alleluia.
Sing to the Lord a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R./ The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or: Alleluia.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the Lord loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R./ The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or: Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R./ The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
or: Alleluia.
When Jesus had come in sight of the city, he wept over it and said, "If only today you knew the ways of peace! But now your eyes are held from seeing. Yet days will come upon you when your enemies will surround you with barricades and shut you in and press on you from every side. And they will dash you to the ground and your children with you, and leave not a stone within you, for you did not recognize the time and the visitation of your God."
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus entering the Temple in Jerusalem, which carries profound significance. His journey to Jerusalem was not just a visit; it was a mission to restore the Temple’s true purpose as a house of prayer—a place for encountering God. Upon entering the Temple, He drove out the merchants and declared, “My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves” (Luke 19:46). Jesus was not merely opposing commerce; He was calling for a radical return to authentic worship, stripping away the distractions that had overtaken this sacred space.
This prophetic cleansing act reminds us that God’s house—including our own lives—must be founded on true devotion, free from distractions or conflicting intentions. The Temple had become a venue where the focus shifted to material wealth instead of encountering God. Jesus’ actions emphasise that prayer and worship are about relationships, not transactions. God invites us to approach Him with genuine, open, and humble hearts rather than simply presenting superficial gifts.
As Jesus taught in the Temple, the people “hung on his words” (Luke 19:48). His words carried a promise of life, grace, and transformation, stirring the hearts of those who listened. Today, we are invited to ask ourselves: are we hanging on Jesus’ words with the same eagerness? Are we willing to clear out what keeps us from a full encounter with God?
Jesus’ message is a powerful reminder for us to return to the heart of worship and make space for His Word in our lives. May we be open to His teaching, allowing it to shape us, cleanse us, and draw us ever closer to the presence of God.
Today the author of Revelation reflects, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel before him, on his prophetic role. The word of God is sweet-tasting to him, but contains a bitter message of warning he has to preach.
Jesus drove out the merchants from the Temple and it might be a good time to ask ourselves: What has the Lord to drive out from us to make us better Christians? What stands in the way of being closer to him in the life of every day? What matters for us Christians is that we are attached to the Lord and close to the people he has entrusted to us. Then we can worship him with our whole life.
God our Father,
we often turn our hearts
into houses of pride and greed
rather than into homes of love and goodness
where you can feel at home.
Destroy the temple of sin in us,
drive away all evil from our hearts,
and make us living stones of a community
in which can live and reign
your Son Jesus Christ,
our Lord for ever and ever.
– That in our churches the Christians community may experience the presence of God in prayer and joyful worship, we pray:
– That we may make our houses of prayer places of hearty encounter for God with his people, we pray:
– That as living stones of the Church we may build up our communities as people who love and serve, we pray:
Lord God, our Father,
with the bread of life
and the wine of joy of himself,
your Son will renew his covenant with us.
Let Jesus give us the will and the love
to be faithful to its demands
the way he was faithful to it
even if it meant the cross.
Let us give you true worship
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God, our faithful Father,
you have given us in this Eucharist
your Son Jesus Christ
to show us in him what loyal obedience means.
Let your Son be alive in us,
so that our Christian community may be
the temple in which he lives
and where he gathers us together
as his brothers and sisters.
Keep us from all formalism,
that we may worship you with our lives,
by the power and wisdom
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
By his word and actions Jesus has spoken to us today that we must serve God as he himself did: in spirit and in truth, that is: our everyday living must correspond to what we believe, in loyal service of God and people. May God bless you and guide you: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
