Mark 11:17

3 April, 2023

“And he was teaching them and saying to them, is it not written? My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.”
– Mark 11:17

Holy God, Yahweh, our Creator, you are the King of Glory and Majesty, Whose Church is the Temple of the Living God, and yet, wicked and self-serving human beings turned it into a den of thieves by carrying out worldly transactions in its precincts. Jesus righteously took corrective measures by clearing out all that was defiling your Holy Temple, which was a House of Prayer and communion with you. Jesus also proclaimed that he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.

As human beings, devoid of the wisdom and understanding of your Holy Word and Holy Plans, we fail to realise that Christ is the Church, which he rebuilt by his resurrection, three days after he was crucified. With his resurrection, you have created a new order of priesthood, where all who belong to Christ’s Church, are members of the very Body of Christ and have all been called to priesthood and to sonship. We need to thus preserve our bodies as temples of God and live sanctified lives, fulfilling our mission, as priests, by carrying the Word of God to the peoples of all nations of the world.

Jesus clears the temple.

Lord, may we realise that we are no longer our own, but belong to Christ and our bodies, as temples, should be kept pure, to honor you as our God. There are many ways we can honor you with our bodies. Jesus taught us to pray unceasingly, with no particular hour kept aside. We need to attune our minds to block out temptation by repeating your Name, and by cleaving to Jesus, through the indwelling Spirit. We need to follow the promptings of the Spirit diligently and make prayer the fabric of our being, the only way that we can maintain constant dialogue and communion with you, calling on the Name of Jesus to be our guide, strength and consolation. Amen