Posted by The WORD in other words (2019) by Fr Bel San Luis SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Friday 33rd Week in Ordinary Time
In most Gospel stories, Jesus Christ is depicted as a gentle, kind, and compassionate man. However, in today‘s Gospel at the temple, the Lord is seen fuming mad, even becoming violent (Jn 2, 1 3-22). Making a kind of whip of cords, “he drove sheep and oxen alike out of the temple area, and overturned the money changers‘ tables, spilling their coins.” “Get them out of here,” he ordered. “Stop turning my Father‘s house into a market place” (Jn 2.16).
Jesus was acting out of compassion for the poor who were being exploited. Many of these had traveled from afar, When they got to the temple, their animal offerings were rendered unacceptable. They were to purchase these at exorbitant prices from the temple sellers.
Indeed, we have to get angry when we are confronted with obvious injustices and exploitations in our midst. Like the prefect apostolic of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, William Finnemann, SVD, who, despite knowing death to be his price, courageously stood up against the Japanese officers, during World War II, who wanted to convert a nun‘s convent there into a house for comfort women. (A Hero Deserving a Halo by Fr Peter Michael, SVD).
In the temple episode, Jesus condemned the worship which had become commercialized and largely hypocritical. Have we turned our churches into market places by using our cell phones or chatting with companions inside the church, mindless of the Blessed Sacrament?
Our body is the “temple of the Holy Spirit,” St. Paul says. As Jesus cleansed the temple, are we also cleansing our body from harmful habits like smoking, drinking or taking illegal drugs? Let us examine where we have failed; repent and reform ourselves.
