“My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." -Lk 19:46
Friends, God is good, all the time.
There is no doubting this gospel narrative in which Jesus takes a surprising but very decisive action to drive out those who were selling in the temple court can disturb some people, given that Jesus, the God-man, embodied love, compassion, and forgiveness.
However, given the proper context, his action revealed nothing but God's righteous anger, his justice, and human greed. It was permissible within the temple worship institution to sell animals and exchange coins in the outer court( what we may call in our current churches, the gathering space /foyer) for use in the temple by the many pilgrims to the temple to offer sacrifices.
If the practice had maintained its credible end, the blessed Lord wouldn't have taken the extreme action against them. However, these temple merchants had turned it into a lucrative enterprise and were profiting off the pilgrims, and this, Jesus wouldn't permit.
There are a few holy lessons in the story for us: 1.Examining our motives for the things we do is critical. Whether we act towards the Church, family, friends, workplace, etc., our motive should be service to benefit others and not to take advantage of them.
2.Frenetic intemperance must be watched and controlled. Modesty is a virtue for the Catholic Christian.
3.Greed in all its forms should be avoided. Greed easily produces unjust dealing with others, cheating, lying, and exploitation of others.
4.The Church is a holy ground, a holy place, and the presence of God for personal and collective prayers. Come to the Church to encounter your God alone or in a group.
Prayer blessings: Again, we may prayer The Angelus at 12 noon and 6 pm. The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, full of grace… Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. Hail Mary... And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. Hail Mary... Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.