In the Gospel reading today from Luke 19, we see Jesus cleansing the temple area of those who are selling things. He says, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” We then read that “every day He was teaching in the temple area…all the people were hanging on His words.”
In the first reading from Revelation 10, John is told to take a scroll from an angel. The angel says to him, “Take and swallow it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.” So John does, and it does. This is a scene that is very much like what the prophet Ezekiel was told to do in Ezekiel 3. The scroll that John ate was sweet because it predicted the final victory of God’s people. But it turned sour because it also announced their sufferings.
This eating of the scroll by John is very much like our pilgrim journey. God’s word is sweeter than honey. (Check out the Responsorial today from Psalm 119.) But there is also a sour aspect to it, since it comes with suffering. Unfortunately for many, when the sour part hits, they forget about the sweetness. But the sweetness is what sees us through the sour. And the sweetness will last for eternity.
Father, your word is sweeter than honey from the comb. Help us to always remember the sweetness, that we may persevere through the sour moments. Amen.
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