Menu
Today, 4th of December, we celebrate
Saint John Damascene
I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.
Then the voice spoke to me and said:
“Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, “Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
R./ How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R./ How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R./ How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R./ How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R./ How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R./ How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R./ How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Jesus entered the Temple area and began to drive out the merchants. And he said to them, "God says in the Scriptures: My house shall be a house of prayer: but you have turned it into a den of robbers."
Jesus was teaching every day in the Temple. The chief priests and teachers of the Law wanted to kill him and the elders of the Jews as well, but they were unable to do anything, for all the people were listening to him and hanging on his words.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues to address the end times and the coming of the Kingdom. He calls His followers to prepare themselves, to be vigilant and mindful, even though the exact time is unknown and not for them to determine. Instead of focusing on when this time will come, Jesus emphasises the importance of being ready in heart and spirit, grounded in His words and living them daily. The Gospel reminds us that while we live our everyday lives, we should not allow routine, consumerism, or distractions to numb us from our relationship with God.
In His teachings, Jesus compares our lives to the days of Noah and Lot, when people were so engrossed in their daily routines that they overlooked God’s presence and the need to respond. Similar to those in Noah’s and Lot’s times, we too risk missing God’s call if we aren’t vigilant. Our response to God’s call shall not be rooted in fear or speculation about the “end times,” but it helps us to live purposefully, keeping eternity in mind.
Jesus also teaches that clinging to earthly life too tightly leads to spiritual loss. Instead, true life is found in generosity and self-giving. “Whoever loses their life will save it.” We are called to trust God and live with open hearts, caring for others and trusting in the promise of God’s eternal Kingdom.
When Jesus speaks of “one being taken and the other left,” it serves as a call to nurture our relationship with God daily, regardless of external influences or worldly distractions. Spiritual death attracts judgment just as vultures gather around what is dead. Reflecting on our times, we must question ourselves whether we are able to see beyond these distractions to live in preparation for God’s Kingdom.
Jose (bibleclaret.org)
Opening Prayer
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.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction
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.
Gospel Introduction
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.
General Intercessions
– 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:
Prayer over the Gifts
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.
Prayer after Communion
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.
Blessing
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.
