Fr. Dan Riley, OFM, and Mike Fenn share their thoughts about today's Gospel, the economy and Lent. Please share your reflections below.Gospel
John 2:13-25
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.
While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
many began to believe in his name
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.
By Fr. Dan Riley, OFM, and Mike Fenn
One of many elements I enjoy about preparing for these shared scriptures is that I typically learn a key insight about the reading we reflected upon. In preparation for this message, Fr. Dan and I discussed the gospel 3000 miles away from each other – I in my Buffalo study, and he driving in California to his retreat. He helped me understand the background behind the money changers in the temple. Perhaps this will be enlightening to many of you as well.
People came to the temple from all over, both rich and poor, to practice and proclaim their faith. When they came they were required to purchase an animal for sacrifice. They were not allowed to bring their own animal, but had to buy one specifically from the priests. The prices charged were typically higher than they would pay in an open market. The moneychangers came into play because they had to pay with a Hebrew coin, where most of the poor only held Roman currency. This was another opportunity for the clergy to profit from those that looked to them as their trusted leaders. Knowing this, it’s not at all surprising that Jesus would react in the way that he did.
The “marketplace” is certainly a hot button term these days. With many 401k’s in shambles, and confidence in our business leaders shaken to the core, the theme of this gospel couldn’t be more relevant to our lives. We all feel the outrage toward those we believe put us all collectively in the mess we are in. Yet this outrage is different from what was driving Christ through the temple in the Gospel. He was angered that the least among us were being exploited by those posing as spiritual leaders in His Father’s own house. It’s easy for us to feel we need to batten down the hatches during these times, becoming insular to the seemingly frightening world around us. Yet to call ourselves Christians, it is imperative that we realize we can make a difference in the world by how we treat and care for others, and the way we live our own lives. By living this way, or own bodies become a temple, in practicing the rule Francis taught us, to “Create within ourselves a place where God might dwell.”
(Post a comment below to share your thoughts.)
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Having this understanding of the Gospel is indeed Enlightening, Mike. I have always remembered this Gospel as THE Gospel where Christ gets mad, royally mad, and where everyone is wrong and money was to blame.
ReplyDeleteThis new understanding turns everything ‘on a dime’ for Christ was defending those who were defenseless amongst those who were higher up in the food chain. My guess is that the moneychangers themselves were likely hired to carry out the priests wishes. Some may have just been performing their jobs, as many today are caught up in the financial crisis that has had a far reaching global impact.
Your reflections call us to speak up in times when we might otherwise withdraw and retreat in fear, yet in every crisis there is opportunity. What is the opportunity here before us? What tables need overturning? Some might say, we’ve had enough, yet it seems that the veil of nearly every market in every industry are in the process of being exposed and overturned.
Your reflection concludes that “we create within ourselves a place where God might dwell.” This is a very powerful invitation. We have a book in our kitchen called The Peace Handbook, which does not get cracked open often enough, yet I recall one memorable passage, ‘True peace comes when structure has changed.’ Today, in many parishes, we see laity taking a more active role in understanding our financial affairs. Some courageous groups are calling for more transparency and further reform drawing the curtain back on our very own Roman Catholic Church. This is not easy work, yet to maintain the status quo is predictably further uncertainty. Still, these are external changes. Why call for all this reform?
My experience of the Mountain is that it is a place that invites us to have a more personal relationship with our God, and ourselves -- an open model for how we might be in other places in the world, wherever that might be. The true challenge of change is to overturn the tables within ourselves. To face everything. And stand before our Creator to which I normally say, ‘Oh boy, am I in trouble,’ which is how I normally felt when reading this Gospel. Fortunately, within these uncertain times, there is an opportunity to create a more open space within ourselves, our families, communities, places of business and in our Churches. And these seem like ventures worth pursuing.
During a weekend when senseless, devastating violence strikes our nation from New York, to Pennsylvania, to Washington, I am grateful for this reminder that as Christians we must not retreat, we must not be fearful. Thank you for these good words.
ReplyDeleteChristine