Cycle B - Year I:  

8 March 2015: Third Sunday of Lent
(Liturgical color: Violet)

John 2:13-25

The Church is a house of worship, prayer!

Christians are meek and humble of heart. But sometimes, it becomes an excuse for doing nothing, for not getting involved to cleanse our chaotic world. Edmund Burke (the Irish political philosopher) once said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

In our Christian faith, is it a "sin" to get angry?

We read in this Sunday's Gospel our Lord Jesus getting angry. In his zeal for God's house, Jesus cleanses the temple of defilement by proclaiming in strong words: "... stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (Jn 2:16)

So what really happened? Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Passover, which is a customary time of pilgrimage for the Jews. But He found the outer courtyard of the temple chaotic, with money changers doing business, animals are being sold for sacrifice. So Jesus used physical force to expel those doing trade in the temple courtyard.

We hear Jesus call the temple "my Father's house". He is saying something about Himself: He is the Messiah, the Son of God.

But Jesus is also saying something about the Temple of Jerusalem. The temple is the dwelling place of God. Thus, it is a sacred place, a house of prayer and worship dedicated to the glory of God. It is not meant to be chaotic, like "a house of trade" or a marketplace.

The same also applies to our local parish in our generation. A Church is a house of prayer and the house of the Lord. It is not a social hall, picnic grove or playground for children. The Church is properly the dwelling place of the Lord. It deserves our respect.

In sum, the Gospel reading reminds us of the different kinds of temples: the temple made of stone as the place we make our worship; the temple of Christ's Body, which is the Church; and our very own body as a temple of God. In every kind of these temples, we must keep a proper and fitting dwelling place of God, deserving of due respect. So that in the example of Christ cleansing the temple of "impurities" we must be ready to do the same whenever the need arises in our time. In that context, it is not "sinful" to get angry to defend or cleanse God's dwelling place.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam