HOUSE OF PRAYER…

Sirach 44:1,9-13

1 Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generations.
9 There are some of them who have left a name, so that men declare their praise.
10 And there are some who have no memorial, who have perished as though they had not lived; they have become as though they had not been born, and so have their children after them.
11 But these were men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
12 their prosperity will remain with their descendants, and their inheritance to their children’s children.13 Their descendants stand by the covenants; their children also, for their sake.

Mark 11:11-26

11 And he entered Jerusalem, and went into the temple; and when he had looked round at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons;
16 and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple.
17 And he taught, and said to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
19 And when evening came they went out of the city.20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Master, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered.”22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
26 * Other ancient authorities add: “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses”  

MEDITATION

SIRACH CALLS TO MIND famous men who have left an indelible mark and are still being praised by the people. On the other hand there were men who showed mercy and forgiveness,but they with their children have been forgotten with no memorial to celebrate their heroic righteous deeds that continue to be enjoyed by those who come after them.Sirach propose that the people honor and give praise to these righteous souls so that their work of grace and mercy may continue and be passed on to future generations. 
Pagans placed flowers on the graves of loved ones whereas the Hebrew people  placed stones on the graves of the righteous, because stones do not perish signaling eternal life whilst flowers decay rapidly. Stones also mark the location of loved ones for visitors who sought the prayer intercession of the righteous deceased person.Each visitor would place a singular stone on the grave  that over time pile up into a recognizable tower.

St MARKS GOSPEL: The temple priests traditionally prayed in the morning, early evening and late in the day. Catholic priests, religious brothers and sisters and to a lesser extent the laity continue to also pray what is commonly referred to as the daily liturgy of the hours or Divine office.Gen 22:3;24:63;28:11 This act of prayer was considered a meritorious devotion in place of the Temple sacrifices. Our Lord arrived late in the day at the temple and seemed to merely take a cursory look at the place of prayer and then He left.
The next day our Lord saw a fig tree only to discover that it had perished with no fruit to ease His hunger, which elicited Jesus to curse the tree! We recall how our foreparents covered their shame with fig leaves after the fall,hence the fig tree although the second most important fruit of that time, symbolized good evil and knowledge. What follows is our Lords ‘anger’ in response to the desecration of the Temple by traders. Our Lords curse effected the death of the fig tree which signaled the power of prayer to dispel evil and restore mans sanctity through the forgiveness of sin. May our acts of forgiveness and daily devotional prayer become a household practice and a memorial for our sons and daughters for their remembrance and sustenance when they face struggles.

LET US PRAY: Psalms 149:1-6,9

1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with timbrel and lyre!
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands
9 to execute on them the judgment written! This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the LORD!

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.