These past many months since I posted a new section of the
commentary have been marked by a seeming unending series of deaths: of close
priest friends, my mother, other friends, countless innocents murdered by
Islamic extremists, and a certain profound experience of deja vue, circa the
1930’s as Western leaders seem as wimpy appeasers in the face of the blood-lust
of ISIS and other extremists.
All the above weighed
heavily upon my heart and occupied much of my time with intercessory prayer,
especially Holy Mass.
All this in the Jubilee of Mercy, in the past year with
renewed awareness of the Triduum, the days of redemption, mercy, triumph of
life over death, love over hatred, mercy over vengeance.
[I had gotten only that far in the original notes when both
for myself and accompanying others there were unexpected trips to emergency –
my own health is okay now – and then where I had been living the place was becoming
unliveable, the area increasingly dangerous for someone my age. My family found
a place for me, helped with the move, and all that occurred just before
Christmas and New Year’s. Only now, post all that am I settled in and able to
resume these meditations and other writings.]
While continuing, helped by the Holy Spirit, taken by St.
John, to seek to embrace ever more fully the Holy Gospel, I have been praying
intently, daily for the conversion of all to Jesus, for we in the west, in
Christianity, Judaism, other religions, have our own histories of hatred,
violence, division.
We all need to repent, we all need in Christ to begin again,
we all need to preach and live the Gospel of Life or there shall come crashing
down upon us a catastrophe beyond imagining.
We need to learn in the very core of our beings, embrace and
live out Christ’s own call to us to: “…learn from Me and become meek and humble
of heart…” [cf. Mt. 11:29].
As the west, and so called Christendom in particular, goes
ever more down the rabbit hole of abortion, euthanasia, gay ‘marriage’ and
other contra-natural and divine law disorders, our prayer for an end to hatred,
violence, chaos, is weakened.
Our baptized hearts must be quickened anew with the fullness
of the light, truth, life of the Holy Gospel and as true imitators of and
witnesses to Christ, even if the enemies of Christianity are not converted, we
will be granted strength to be ‘white’ martyrs in our daily lives of courage
and integrity unless or until called to be ‘red’ martyrs, such as the four nuns
murdered by ISIS, the innocents slaughtered in Brussels and in other places,
especially in the countries of the Middle East, for the majority of our Muslim
brothers and sisters are among the innocents.
It is difficult not to hate an entire people or religion
because of the evil mentality and actions of some who, claiming to be doing
God’s will are in fact following satan and doing his bidding.
No matter our emotional reaction however we must choose
in our hearts, like Christ, to forgive our enemies and do good to those who
hate us. [cf. Mt. 5:44]
This is not an option for Christians.
It IS an imperative.
It seems appropriate then to be meditating upon the
cleansing of the Temple within the context of my own, yours, every human heart
needing to be cleansed of all that is not truly of God, of Jesus our Redeemer
and His Holy Gospel.
St. Matthew in 21:12,13; St. Mark in 11:15-17; St. Luke in
19:45,46 all record the cleansing, purifying of the Temple in just two verses
each.
St. John who of all the sacred writers records the words of
Jesus at greatest length here describes the event in the Temple with ten
verses.
While the Synoptic accounts record this event at the end of
Christ’s teaching and performing miracles prior to His Passion, St. John places
this at the beginning of Christ’s public ministry.
The import of both ‘placings’ point to the words of the Lord
in Revelation 21:5 where He tells us to Behold, I make all things new.
Even though the physical temple in Jerusalem is purified,
the ultimate temple is Christ’s own body. After His death and resurrection the
place of worship will no longer be the temple in Jerusalem but the living,
mystical body of Christ, the Church on earth. No longer will animals be offered
in sacrifice as worship, intercession, for forgiveness of sins but Christ
Himself, the true Lamb of God, will offer Himself in sacrifice on Calvary, a
sacrifice renewed in every Holy Mass.
There is a continuation from Cana, which has preceded the
Temple event, itself a symbol of the making new of Holy Marriage, of the
relationship between trusting Jesus and doing whatever He tells us, between the
mystery of Christ the Bridegroom, the Church, each baptized soul as His bride,
the movement of the disciples to belief in Christ, a belief which will be
tested especially at the time of Jesus’ arrest, execution, burial, but which
will come to fullness when they encounter the risen Jesus.
v.13 – Now the
Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Passover is not only a most sacred event, sacred memorial
for our elder brothers and sisters in the faith, but is central to the
intervention of God in the life of the Chosen People, in salvation history. The
lamb used in the feast is a pre-figuration of the Paschal Lamb Himself, Jesus
our Lord, true God and true man, the real unblemished Lamb of God.
Like all faithful Jews, from childhood Jesus would have
participated in the Passover and now He does so again and having gone up to
Jerusalem enters the temple –v.14 – And
He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money
changers doing business.
Having participated as a priest at World Youth Day and other
visits to this country of St. John Paul II, I am more understanding of the
temple chaos!
I remember one event when while the crowds were awaiting the
arrival of St. John Paul hawkers walked among the crowd selling snacks, soft
drinks, balloons, souvenirs and down behind the elevated altar, in front of
rows of portable toilets, doing a brisk business, were, literally, money
changer booths where visitors could exchange their currency for dollars!
It is precisely because Jesus found the chaos and cacophony,
the selling and money changing, with all the shouting and disrespect for the
sacred space, and disturbance of liturgy and private prayer caused by the
chaos - and surely we can see here
something deeply emblematic of the chaos we choose within the sacred precincts
of the temple of our own bodies and souls – that v.15- When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and
the oxen, and poured out the changers money and overturned the tables.
Some scholars and pundits from the pulpit have tried to use
the above to justify a type of so-called Christian righteous anger.
This is a deeply flawed understanding not only of the text
but of Jesus Himself.
As Christians we must use love’s imagination when confronted
with chaos, injustice, even hatred and violence without resorting to any form
of verbal or actual destructive, violent action.
If we were as holy as Jesus, if our hearts were as pure as
His, if we were indeed like Jesus complete masters of our emotions and our
hearts……but we are not.
We are wounded, highly emotional sinners, called to love one
another, turn the other cheek, do good to those who persecute us and pray for
our enemies.
That is enough of a daily challenge, the cleansing of the
temple of our own beings.
Perhaps, and I stress perhaps, when we have utterly
accomplished that we may be holy enough to cleanse some other temple.
But for most of us that time is not yet!
v. 16 – And He said
to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house
a house of merchandise.”
I have yet to visit a shrine, place of pilgrimage, anywhere
in the three nations which constitute North America where there are not hawkers
and sellers, not only of religious items but often as well of snacks, candy,
post cards and other items.
It is a persistent tension around sacred places, this
tension between clearing as much of the space and the approaches of commercial
activity and allowing people to make a living.
While we as pilgrims may not be able to resolve this tension
we can at least, within our own choices, seek to avoid the commercial aspects
as much as possible and remain fixed on the point of a shrine: a place to be a
pilgrim seeking every deeper communion with the Holy Trinity, Our Blessed
Mother, the particular Saint honoured in the shrine.
While we can accept within the sacred space of our parish
church the necessity of the Sunday collection, I believe more care needs to be
taken about pulpit announcements, given parishes have both print and online
bulletins, extraneous collections, tickets sales, etc.
Within the cleansing of the Temple by Jesus, there is again
a deep message, invitation even, regarding the temple of our own body, mind,
will, heart, soul, remembering first and foremost the truth that as baptized
disciples of Christ, persons confirmed by the Holy Spirit, nourished in Holy
Communion by the glorious Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity of Christ Himself we are,
and should always be aware we are: …. a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? [1 Cor. 6:19]
We should not fear, rather eagerly ask of Jesus and of the
Holy Spirit to, both through frequent sacramental confession and a constant
grace of metanoia [conversion of heart] to be ever more cleansed, purified,
sanctified: not only ourselves but the
entire Church, indeed to cry out always in prayer this grace be granted to all
our brothers and sisters, the entire human family.
