Daily Gospel Reflection for November 22, 2024

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Reflection by Colleen Rooney

Today's Gospel: Luke 19:45-48

Jesus is present in the Gospels in many ways. We see Him as the storyteller, the preacher, teacher, the healer, the admonisher, and more. Today we see Jesus as the defender of His Father’s house, the temple in Jerusalem. He is angry. The temple is meant to be a house of prayer, but it has become a marketplace. People are buying and selling and, worse, they are cheating others.

Our Lord taught daily in the temple area. Throngs of people came to hear Him. They hung onto His every word and hoped for miraculous healings. There were also Pharisees, Scribes, and leaders of the Jewish faith present. They were not hanging on Jesus’ words or moved by the miracles He performed. Theirs was the responsibility of upholding the sacredness of the temple, but instead they allowed thievery to take place. Many were envious of the peoples’ desire to follow Jesus. They looked for some reason to put Jesus to death.

Why would many religious leaders wish to put Jesus to death? How could it be that this amazing Man who healed the blind, crippled, deaf, mute, and lepers, was not seen for His Divine goodness, power, and authority over natural and spiritual realities? Was it spiritual blindness and vices that obstructed their vision?

Like our Lord, we must uphold the sacredness of the Father’s house and teach to our children and grandchildren to do the same. There are many in our culture, perhaps in our own families, who are blind to Jesus, true God and true Man, and to God, His Father. We can choose to be part of the crowd that hangs on to Jesus’ every word and prays for miracles, especially the miracle that the blind may see.

Ponder:

What words and miracles of Jesus inspire me in the humdrum of my daily life?

Pray:

Lord, heal those whom I know and love but who do not know You so they may recognize You as the Lord of their lives.

Copyright 2024 Colleen Rooney

Colleen Rooney is a wife, mother, and grandmother. Author of Celebrating Advent and Christmas with Children. She is a member of the Catholic Writers Guild and a docent at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, St. Augustine, FL. foodsandfestivitiesofthechristianyear.blogspot.com