1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59 / Luke 6:1-13
The house of God is indeed a holy place. It is a sanctuary of prayer and worship, a place where we come to meet God and to feel His love for us.
Hence, it goes without saying that we won't do anything disrespectful or even think of committing any sin in this holy place.
For example, we won't bring in food here to eat, or behave in a disrespectful manner, simply because we know we are in the house of God and we must have reverence for God.
In the 1st reading, we heard how important it was for Judas and his brothers to purify the sanctuary and dedicate it back to God once their enemies were defeated, as their enemies had earlier defiled the Temple.
With much rejoicing and gladness, they dedicated the altar and it was to them a symbol that God is with them and blessing them.
But in the gospel we saw how Jesus had to use force to drive out those who were committing defilement in the Temple.
Jesus made it clear that there must be no defilement in the Temple, in His Father's house!
Now, we know that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we are the temples of God.
We should not tolerate any sin, any defilement, in our hearts because that would turn our hearts into a robbers' den.
In this Eucharist, let us offer our hearts to the Lord to be cleansed, so that we can offer His a pure sacrifice and may we continue to live a pure and holy life and be a worthy temple of God.