Matthew 21 comes with a warning I cannot get out of my head y’all…”And so I tell you,” added Jesus, “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits.” Our faith is a gift and if we do not appreciate it and use it for it’s intended purpose, it can be taken away from us. Or rather we can lose it through apathy, neglect or sin.
POWERful Bible Journaling: Matthew 21
P –Thank You Lord. Thank You for this gift of faith, the ability to worship You freely, the priests that serve my family, Your holy Sacraments of grace, Your Son’s death on a cross, Your mercy, forgiveness and patience.
O –This is an emotional chapter. Our Lord enters on a donkey, even though He seems to have walked everywhere else. He not only enters riding, but the people are cheering for Him and throwing their cloaks down for him! And then he goes into the temple, which the people had turned into a den of thieves. He flips over tables and chases the money-changers out. Then He heals people, curses a fig tree with no fruit and teaches in parables again. It’s a roller coaster of emotions from joy and compassion to anger and scorn.
W —vs 13…And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.
E –I’ve considered verse 13 from two standpoints. The first, my body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. Is my body a house of prayer…or a den of thieves? What do I steal? Time? Talent? And who do I steal from? My God? Myself? My family?
The second, is my physical home a house of prayer…or a den of thieves? Am I living an excellent life, teaching my children and encouraging my husband on towards the Kingdom of Heaven?
R –Lord, I want my home to be a house of prayer. I want my family to know Your presence in our home. I want our friends and visitors to recognize You as the King of our home and family.*
*Have you heard about the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
The center of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Enthronement of the image of the Sacred Heart in the home. By the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart, we link the tabernacle of our parish church to our home, inviting our Lord to be our constant and most intimate companion. The Enthronement is a way of life. It means that Christ is King of our hearts, and we desire Him to be present with us always. In other words, by the Enthronement we signify our desire to make our hearts and our homes holy, to sanctify our lives in every aspect.
–Archbishop Raymond L. Burke
More information–The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: How to Practice the Sacred Heart Devotion
Please leave your POWERful reflections in the comments
Resource List:
My large print Bible
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament
Haydock Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible
The Great Commentary of Cornelius A’ Lapide
A Practical Commentary On Holy Scripture
deb00 says
P- Open my heart to Your word and help me live with my will united to Yours
O- The people were chanting “Hosanna to the Son of David” one day and “Crucify Him” the next. How many times do we do this…glorifying God when everything is going our way and cursing Him when its not?
Another example of the importance of bearing fruit and how the kingdom of Heaven will be taken away from those who do not produce fruit.
Jesus demands the people stop disrespecting His Father house. Wonder what He would say to us today as we act like His house is just an auditorium, another place to gather and talk.
A parallel can be seen in the landowner, tenant and his son and God, his prophets and His Son.
W- So many good verses again!
Mt21:13 My house shall be a house of prayer but you are making it a den of thieves
Mt 21:22 Whatever you ask for in prayer, with faith, you will receive
Mt. 21:43… The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruits
E- It disappoints me that we have me become so disrespectful and irreverent in Gods House. Growing up, unless you were responding to the prayers or singing you didn’t talk once you walked in the doors of the Church. It was just expected that there be a respectful silence. I think our laxity of reverence in His presence has in part led to the number of Catholics who do not believe in His true presence.
I see the hot/cold for God in our world today…singing His praises when all goes well, cursing and turning our backs when they don’t or when we think our prayers aren’t being answered
R- Lord help me always to be reverent in Your House. Help me to remember my prayers are always answered with Your will in a way that is pleasing to You, and in Your time. You care enough to make sure I get what is best for me. Help me to produce fruit for your kingdom
Jenny says
You are preaching to the choir with me Deb. My daughter and I had to attend church somewhere different the other weekend and I just prayed, “Please let me only have eyes for You Lord,” because I knew I would be scandalized otherwise: dress in church, talking, gum chewing, checking phones, etc…
Michelle says
Continued prayers for healing for my family and me.
The cursing of the fig tree ~ piety that lacks the fruit of good deeds. Suffer me not Lord.
“Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Wow! That is quite a statement. I want prayer that has unwavering faith. Like the time when I was a girl and everyone had these Chinese type sandals that were made of a light wood material and laced up the calf. We could not afford them, but because I trusted my father’s skills as a wood craftsman, even though he was a painter by trade, I begged and begged him to make them for me. My faith in his ability and love for me was unwavering. He did make them, complete with long laces and they were beautiful. I wore them for about 5 or 10 minutes before I had to take them off due to the immense pain that they caused. Lol. So, they weren’t even good for me and yet he gave them to me anyway. How much more a perfect and loving Father gives me when I persist?
Today, I ask for the wisdom and faith needed for really good and effective prayers.
Jenny says
Oh what a great story! Except they hurt, lol! But it illustrates the point exactly.