Today, let’s start with some movie trivia. Who knows what movie the following line is from? “My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Does anyone know what movie this line is from? … That’s right, this line is from the 1995 Oscar-winning movie Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks.
Ever since Fr. Jeremy’s homily on fasting last week, I’ve had a sweet treat on my mind. Instead of a box of chocolates, I’ve had a different sweet treat on my mind that also comes in a box. What do you think is inside this box? Any guesses? … Doughnuts? Close, but not just any doughnuts, dare I say, the best doughnut. This doughnut was originally created to be holey and each of us were created to be holy. God wants to open a hole in the center of our lives and then fill it.
If our lives are like this delicious doughnut, then they can be filled with all kinds of good things: jelly, Boston Cream, what else am I missing here? (I’m glad no one said lemon, that’s disgusting). But no matter how good whatever we try to fill the hole in our lives with, it will never be as awesome as having Jesus at the center of our lives. Jesus wants to open a hole in the center of our lives and then Jesus wants to be the one who fills it.
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear about how Jesus clears out the temple so it can be filled with God alone. Jesus enters into the temple, which was the political, economic, cultural, and religious center of the nation. The temple was called holy, because it was meant to be set apart and be different from the rest of the buildings. This was the place where God dwelt among God’s people in a special way.
Upon entering the temple, Jesus would have immediately noticed that those merchants who used to buy and sell sheep, oxen, and doves on the outside of the temple have now moved inside the temple courtyard. The money changers who used to be outside the temple have also now moved inside the temple courtyard. This may be because the temple priest had taken over this shady business for his own self-aggrandizement. This was a shady business operation in how it was setup. It was setup so when people brought their own animals to sacrifice, their animal would be rejected as not being perfect enough to be used. The animal was rejected so the merchants could then charge exorbitant prices for the animals they sold at the temple.
It was kind of like what happens today with bottled water at the airport, they won’t let you bring your own in, but they will charge $4 inside to buy one of their bottles of water that they deem okay to have within the airport. It was a rip-off. It was extortion. Not only that, but the people coming to the temple from other countries would also have to pay for the animal and the temple tax in the currency that was accepted in Israel. If you gave the money changers $10 in your own currency, you’d be lucky if they gave you $9 back in the local currency.
Instead of the priest and these sellers helping people worship God, these people were letting their own desire for profit and power become an obstacle to people coming closer to God and worshipping God.
Jesus comes to the temple and sees that the people have corrupted, polluted, desecrated, and dishonored his father’s house. Jesus sees this and it makes him angry. Nothing infuriates Jesus more than those phonies, those hypocrites who get in the way of people worshipping God and use God as a front for their personal profit, pleasure, and power. Jesus sees that people have turned his father’s house into a marketplace, a place of business, but Jesus comes to the temple to do his father’s business.
The cleansing of the temple is one of the first acts of his father’s business. He takes some of the little ropes used for the animals, braids them together to make a whip. He flips the tables of the money changers and they scramble to get whatever of the money they can. The merchants chase their beasts as they go to leave the temple.
Jesus drove them all out of the temple. This would have been over 10,000 people Jesus drove out of the temple, with a whip. This is miraculous crowd control. He cleans out the temple completely, well almost. Jesus came into the temple so that all that would remain in the temple was God. By attacking the corrupt system that was in place, Jesus removed everything and everyone from the temple that was getting in the way of people worshipping God so that all that is left at the center is that which draws people closer to God and worshipping God.
This cleansing of the temple was not a one and done experience for Jesus, according to St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. They believe that Jesus cleansed the temple on two different occasions. Once about this time of year around Passover toward the beginning of his public ministry and a second time around Passover toward the end of his public ministry. Jesus’ cleansing of the temple of the Lord didn’t stop there. In fact, it continues on still today with us.
Remember that each of us were originally created in the image and likeness of God. Each of us who were baptized and confirmed received the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. When we receive the Eucharist, Jesus enters under our roof. When Jesus enters under our roof and takes a look around, he may feel compelled to remind us, that our bodies are a temple of the Lord, not a drive-through.
A temple is a proper dwelling place for the Lord that at its core is a place that is all about worshipping God. A drive through is characterized by a bunch of busyness. In an attempt to stay full, a drive through has to stay busy all the time with passing things, but at the end the of the day it is left empty.
Jesus’ message when he cleansed the temple 2,000 years ago is the same message he has for us today when he comes to cleanse our temple: this is a sacred place for God to dwell and to be used for worshipping God, not a place for doing our own busyness.
This busyness of ours has become the new sloth. Sloth used to be one of the seven deadly sins that was viewed as being synonymous with sitting on a couch being lazy. Not anymore though. Think about all those times we’ve been too lazy and un-self-disciplined to do what’s really important, or hard, so we stay busy with everything else. All too often, we’ve let busyness become our excuse.
Our busyness is the excuse we give on why we can’t honor the Ten Commandments mentioned in today’s first reading. Maybe we say to ourselves, “I’ve been too busy with work and making money and now I’m too exhausted to pray.” Or it could be that we say, “well, I’m too busy with sports this weekend to honor God by going to Mass in person or via livestream.” Or maybe we say, “I’m too busy building up a reputation and honor for myself on social media. I don’t have time to make sure God is being built up and honored by what I say and what I like on social media.” These Ten Commandments are not just a bunch of rules, they are God’s ten-point plan for our happiness. If you don’t believe me, don’t take my word for it. When I read the Bible this morning, I read Psalm 112, verse 1, which says, “Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commands.” These commandments are God’s way of cleansing the temple of our lives of our own busyness so we can get down to the business of worshipping God.
The host that Fr. Jeremy will consecrate for you in a few moments will fill the hole of your life perfectly. Jesus is here today and he wants to come and cleanse our hearts and clear out a hole in the center of our lives that he can then fill. As we look at this doughnut of our lives and then look at what is around the heads of the saints on the tapestries in our church, we may see a similarity. The saints who let Jesus cleanse the temple of their lives making room in the center for Jesus to live through them are now depicted on these tapestries as having a ring-shaped halo of Christ’s light around their heads. By keeping Christ’s life and light at the center of their lives, Jesus suffused their souls so that Christ’s light emanates from their heads for all eternity.
We too were created to live the lives of Saint Dusty, Saint Bob, and Saint Becca who have Jesus in the center of our lives today and halos of Christ’s light around our heads for all eternity. So, when our time has come and we are at the beginning moment of our eternal afterlife, we don’t want to be like Forrest Gump who says, “you never know what you’re gonna get.” Instead, live your life with Jesus in the center so when it comes to your eternal life, you know what you’re gonna get (holding ring shape above head).
3rd Sunday of Lent Cycle B – March 7, 2021
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Ex 20:1-17
Psalm: 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Reading 2: 1 Cor 1:22-25
Gospel: Jn 2:13-25