Lent Week 3 2022: Cleansing of the Temple
Merciful God,
Free your Church from the sins of this world
and protect us from evil we see
and the evil we prefer to ignore.
We need your guidance, Lord
for we cannot do this alone.
Only with your help can we be saved.
Thank you for your desire to save us and love us.
Psalm 18
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
They are more to be desired than gold,
than the purest of gold
and sweeter are they than honey,
than honey from the comb.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
Gospel John 2:13-25
Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting at their counters there.
Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well,
scattered the money-changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers,
‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’
Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for your house will devour me.
The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’
Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’
The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary: are you going to raise it up in three days?’
But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said.
During his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he gave, but Jesus knew them all and did not trust himself to them; he never needed evidence about any man; he could tell what a man had in him.
Fr Joe's Reflection
These Readings challenge us to a deeper understanding, of what the will of God is for us.
The first reading from Exodus gives us the 10 commandments, and the Gospel from St John tells us that Jesus was so angry that he forced the money changer and the cattle and sheep sellers out of the temple.
Maybe before we go any further we should read these two readings to ourselves.
Is the word relevant for us today? What is Jesus saying to us now?
The Gospel shows us an angry Jesus with the whip in his hand forcing these money changers and market sellers out of the temple.
We are not used to seeing Jesus like this. He is gentle and kind and a meek person, so why was he so assertive then. Jesus did not get angry on his own account, but on the account of his love for his father and his neighbour.
His action was in protest against commercialism of religion. But it was much more than this.
The house of the father should be open to all people and not just for the Jews.
The abject poverty of the ordinary people was compounded by having to pay for their worship in offering sacrifice. What God wants above all, is the worship of our lives.
“Destroy this Sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” In chapter 4 of St John’s Gospel Jesus say’s “ But the hour has come- in fact- it’s here already when true worshippers will worship the father in the spirit of the truth.
Jesus offers the opportunity to become part of the family of the father Son and Holy Spirit.
At Baptism and confirmation we are empowered with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the word is made flesh in our flesh. We become the Temple of the Holy Spirit so when we gather together in worship we are the Body of Christ, the Church. We offer the most perfect sacrifice to the Father, the only begotten son in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
May be our Prayer today could be the response of the Psalm.
“You have the message of Eternal Life, O Lord”
Fr Joe.
Prayer Of St Anslem
O my God, teach my heart where and how to seek You,
where and how to find You.
You are my God and You are my all and I have never seen You.
You have made me and remade me,
You have bestowed on me all the good things I possess,
Still I do not know You.
I have not yet done that for which I was made.
Teach me to seek You.
I cannot seek You unless You teach me
or find You unless You show Yourself to me.
Let me seek You in my desire,
let me desire You in my seeking.
Let me find You by loving You,
let me love You when I find You.
Amen.
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.