If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor.

"I make a Holy Hour each day in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. All my sisters of the Missionaries of Charity make a daily Holy Hour as well, because we find that through our daily Holy Hour our love for Jesus becomes more intimate, our love for each other more understanding, and our love for the poor more compassionate. Our Holy Hour is our daily family prayer where we get together and pray the Rosary before the exposed Blessed Sacrament the first half hour, and the second half hour we pray in silence. Our adoration has doubled the number of our vocations. In 1963, we were making a weekly Holy Hour together, but it was not until 1973, when we began our daily Holy Hour, that our community started to grow and blossom." – Mother Teresa

Gospel Text: (Lk 19:45-48)

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
“It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words.

Is my home a house of prayer?

There certainly are “thieves” that we can let in that can take us down a very different road from one of prayer.

We too often offer a litany of excuses instead of a litany of prayer. “I’m too busy, too tired, too frustrated, too angry, too bored, too everything to pray.”

But all of those times are exactly when we should stop. Take a deep breath. And pray. We can say thanks for a life that is busy and fulfilled. We can ask for help when we become overwhelmed with work and commitments. We can ask God to help us deal with our frustration and to defuse our anger. We can take a minute to pray for someone else when we are feeling bored or restless. We can reach out to someone who needs an ear or a friendly hello.

Sadly, we let those “thieves” of frustration, anger and irritation into our house of prayer. When we do, we are stealing from ourselves!

There is another option - We can also drive the thieves out! We can listen to Jesus’ words and respond to him. We can be mindful of our heart and mind.

My prayer today is to make my house a house of prayer, to make my litany of excuses into a litany of thankfulness and gratitude.