Since the
Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the
temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the
money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out
of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the
money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he
said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a
marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your
house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign
can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has
been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three
days?”But he was speaking about the temple of his Body. Therefore, when he was
raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they
came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.
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Reflection:
What do you
do when you go to church to pray or for Holy Mass? Do you always go there so
that you could feel its solemn atmosphere so that you could have a personal
encounter with Jesus?
The church is
always our place of worship and this is our safe refuge whenever we are
burdened by life’s challenges. It is also here where we get to have a personal
encounter with Jesus before, during and after the celebration of the Holy Mass.
Do we still
observe the proper discipline when we are at church? Do we still dip our finger
in the holy water font, make the sign of the cross and genuflect with our eyes
fixed on the tabernacle before we officially enter the church and before we go
outside of the church?
In our gospel
we read about Jesus who went to the temple, to His dismay he found the temple
in disarray. For they made the temple of worship to a temple of commerce. The
people who were supposed to worship was there to do business and other things
not related with worship for God. Therefore to create order and to restore the
sanctity of the temple Jesus angrily drove out all those who were corrupting
the temple.
This is a
good reminder for all of us when we are at church for Holy Mass or to pray. We
go to church to encounter, to worship and to give glory and honor to Jesus. The
church is not a business office where wheeling and dealing occurs.
When we go to
church to pray or for Holy Mass let us go there with our focus on Jesus. So
that when we go out of the church we carry with us this renewed strength and
hope that will energize us as we once again face our life’s challenges. -
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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