And Jesus, teaching in the temple precincts,  replied:
‘How is it that the scholars say that the Christ is the Son of David? 

David himself said in the Holy Spirit:
“The Lord said to my lord, 
Sit at my right hand, 
Until I put your enemies under your feet”

David himself calls him “Lord”, and how is this his son? ‘

And a great crowd heard him gladly.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

And one of the scholars, having come, heard them arguing, and seeing that he answered well,  asked him:  ‘What is the first command of them all? ‘ 

Jesus answered :
’The first commandment  is “Hear, Israel, the Lord God, your Lord is one.” (Dt 6:4)

And you shall love the Lord your God from the whole of your heart, 

and from the whole of your soul,
and from the whole of your mind
and from the whole of strength.” (Dt 6:5)

The second is this:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Lv  19:18)

 Greater than these is no other commandment. ‘

And the scholar said to him:
‘Well said, teacher; you have spoken truthfully,
because there is one, and no other besides him.
And “To love him from the whole heart,
and from the whole understanding
and from the whole strength,” 

and
“to love the neighbour as oneself”
– is much more than all the offerings and sacrifices’

And Jesus having seen, that he answered wisely, said to him: 
‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God’

And nobody any longer dared to question him. 

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

And Sadducees came to him, who say there is no resurrection, and they asked him : 

‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us ‘If a brother of someone dies and leaves behind a wife and yet does not leave a child, then (Mose wrote )his brother should take the wife and  raise up offspring for him. 

;There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying he did not leave any offspring.
And the second took her, and he died, not leaving any offspring;
And the seven did not leave any offspring. 

‘Last of all, the woman also died. 

‘At the resurrection (when they rise again) whose wife will she be?’

Jesus said to them: ‘You are mistaken, aren’t you? Because of this: having not known the Scriptures or the power of God. For when they rise again from the dead, then they will neither marry or be given in marriage, but they will be as angels in the heavens.

‘Concerning the dead, that are raised – you have read in the Book of Moses, in the passage at the bush, how God said to him “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”, haven’t you? He is not god of the dead, but the living. You are greatly mistaken.’

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Tribute Money (Le denier de César), 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 7 5/8 x 10 7/16 in. (19.4 x 26.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.206 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 00.159.206_PS1.jpg)

And they sent some of the Pharisees  and the Herodians to him so that they might trap him by a word. 

And having come they said to him ‘ Teacher, we know that you are honest, and ‘playing politics’ is of no concern to you, for you do not look at people’s faces but you teach the way of the Lord, based on truth. Is it lawful to give poll tax to Caesar, or not? Should we give or not?’

But knowing their pretense he said to them: ‘Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius so I might see.’ 

They brought one. And he said to them : ‘Whose image is this and whose inscription? 

They said to him ; ‘Caesar’s.’

Then Jesus said to them ‘Pay back to Caesar, Caesar’s and God’s to God.’

And they were utterly amazed at him.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

And he began to speak to them in parables:

‘A man planted a vineyard and put around it a wall, and dug a trench for its wine press and he built a watchtower and he rented it to tenant farmers and went on a journey.

‘And at the proper time he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from the tenants part of the produce of the vineyard. And they took him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

‘Again he sent another slave to them. They beat that one over the head and treated him dishonourably.

‘And he sent another slave. That one they killed, and many others – some were beaten and others were killed.

‘Still he had one, a beloved son. He sent him last to them saying: “They will respect my son.”  But those tenants said to themselves:  “This is the heir. Come let us kill him, and we will be the heir.”

‘And having taken him, they killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

‘What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read:

“The stone which the builders rejected
this became the main cornerstone.
This is from the Lord, 
And it is amazing in our eyes” (Ps 118:22)?

And they were seeking to seize him, yet they feared the crowd, knowing that he spoke the parable against them. And they left him and went away.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

And they came  into Jerusalem again and while he was walking in the precincts of the Temple, the chief priests and the scholars and the elders  came to him, and they said to him: ‘By what kind of authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?’ 

But Jesus said to them: ‘I will ask you one question, and answer me, and I will say to you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John – from heaven or from people? Answer me.’

And they debated between themselves: If we say “From heaven”, he will say “Why did you not believe him?” But should we say “From people…?” – they feared the crowd, for all held that John really was a prophet. And they answered Jesus: ‘We do not know.’ and Jesus said to them, ‘Neither do I say to you by what authority I do these things.”

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

And as they passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. And Peter remembered and said ‘Teacher, look – the fig tree which you cursed, withered.’

And Jesus replied to them:
‘Have faith in God.

Truly I say to you all: if someone says to this mountain
‘Be lifted up and be thrown into the sea
and they do not doubt in their heart, 

          but believe what they say is happening, 
it will done for them.

Because of this, I say to you:
Whatever you pray and ask for 
– believe that you have received – 
and it will be done for you. 

And whenever you stand praying, 
forgive whatever you have against someone,
and your Father who is in heaven
will forgive your trespasses too.’

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

And they came into Jerusalem, and having entered the temple precincts he began to throw out the sellers and the buyers in the precincts, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and and the seats of the sellers of doves, and he would not allow any thing to be carried through the precincts.

And he taught: them: ‘Is it not written:

“My house is called a house of prayer, for all the nations?”

But you have made it a cave of robbers.’

And the chief priests and the scholars heard him, and they sought how to kill him. For they feared him, for all the crowd were amazed at his teaching. And when it was late, they left the city.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

And he entered Jerusalem, into the Temple precinct and when he had  looked around at everything, it being already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 

And on the next day, when they had left Bethany, he was hungry.  And seeing at a distance a fig tree, with leaves he went to see if perhaps he would find  anything on it, and having come to it he found nothing, except leaves.  For it was not the season for figs. 

And responding, he said ‘Never, ever  may anyone eat from you.’ And his disciples heard him. 

Then follows the cleansing of the Temple

19  And when it was late, they left the city.

And as they passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. And Peter remembered and said ‘Teacher, look – the fig tree which you cursed, withered.’

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

And when they were close to Jerusalem, in the vicinity of Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them:

‘Go into the village ahead of you and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied, upon which nobody has sat. Untie it and bring it. And if someone says to you ‘“Why are you doing this?”  say “The Lord needs it, and he will send it back here immediately.

And they went and found a colt tied to a door, outside in the street and they untied it. 

And some people, standing there, said to them: ‘Why do you untie the colt?’ And they said to them as Jesus had said, and they allowed them. And they brought the colt to Jesus and placed their cloaks on it, and he sat upon it. 

And many people spread their cloaks on the road, others ‘greenery’, having cut it in the fields.  Those who went before and those who followed were crying:

‘Hosanna, 
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David. 
Hosanna in the highest.’

And he entered Jerusalem, into the Temple precinct and when he had  looked around at everything, it being already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 

---

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Ps 118:25-26

Save us, we pray, O Lord!
    O Lord, we pray, give us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)