Third Sunday in Lent, Cycle B

JOHN 2:13-25

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP I ATTENDED CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FROM GRADE SCHOOL ON. WE WERE TAUGHT MOSTLY BY NUNS, THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF LEAVENWORTH, AND THEY WORE HABITS, AND LIVED IN A CONVENT. THEY WOULD ADMINISTER A SHARP WRAP TO THE KNUCKLES WITH WOODEN RULER NOW AND THEN, AND ONCE I WITNESSED A WELL-AIMED ERASER STOP THE BAD BEHAVIOR OF ONE OF MY CLASSMATES DEAD IN ITS TRACKS. AND AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, OFTEN MORE FREQUENTLY, WE WOULD BE MARCHED FROM THE SCHOOL TO THE CHURCH, WHERE WE WOULD PERFORM SOME RITE – MAYBE MASS, MAYBE CONFESSION, MAYBE A ROSARY OR A NOVENA. AND EVEN THE MOST UNRULY CATHOLIC CHILD, BY THE TIME HE OR SHE HIT THIRD GRADE, KNEW THAT THE INSIDE OF THE CHURCH WAS A SPECIAL PLACE, WHERE YOU NEVER TALKED ABOVE A WHISPER, WHERE YOU NEVER LOUNGED ON THE PEWS, AND WHERE YOU GENUFLECTED WHEN YOU WALKED PAST THE TABERNACLE. ALL THESE LITTLE CUSTOMS REINFORCED OUR SENSE THAT THIS WAS A SACRED SPACE, A PLACE SET APART FROM THE WORLD.

AND IF YOU ARE OLD LIKE ME, YOU MAY REMEMBER THE CUSTOM OF VISITING THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. MY FATHER MADE IT A POINT TO STOP IN THE CHURCH ON HIS WAY HOME NOW AND THEN. WE KIDS IN GRADE SCHOOL WOULD DO THE SAME BEFORE WE WALKED HOME FROM SCHOOL. THE STILLNESS AND SPECIAL PRESENCE OF GOD WAS GOOD FOR OUR SOULS EVEN THEN.

WHEN WE CATHOLICS THINK ABOUT OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE JEWISH, WE MIGHT GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THEIR SYNAGOGUES ARE SOMETHING LIKE OUR CHURCHES. BUT TO THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME, THERE WAS ONLY ONE SACRED SPACE, AND THAT WAS THE TEMPLE. EVEN THOUGH JEWS LIVED THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE, AND HAD SYNAGOGUES WHEREVER THEY LIVED, THEY ALL LOOKED TO THE TEMPLE AS THE ONE PLACE WHERE GOD WAS PRESENT IN A SPECIAL WAY. WE EVEN SEE THAT STILL GOING ON IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES, WHEN THE HIGH PRIEST ZACHARY RECEIVES A REVELATION AND A PUNISHMENT WHEN HE GOES INTO THE HOLY OF HOLIES. THE TEMPLE CONSISTED ROUGHLY OF CONCENTRIC AREAS. AT THE VERY CENTER WAS THE HOLY OF HOLIES, WHERE A PRIEST WOULD ENTER ONCE A YEAR. AROUND THAT WAS THE AREA WHERE SACRIFICES WERE OFFERED. THEN THERE WAS THE COURT FOR JEWISH MEN, THEN THE ONE FOR JEWISH WOMEN, AND THEN THERE WAS THE COURT OF THE GENTILES, WHERE NON-JEWS COULD WORSHIP. AND IT WAS IN THIS AREA WHERE YOU WOULD PURCHASE ANIMALS FOR SACRIFICE, AT HIGHLY INFLATED RATES, OF COURSE.

JESUS' ACTION HAS BEEN EXPLAINED IN MANY WAYS – WAS HE UPSET OVER COMMERCE GOING ON IN THE TEMPLE? PROBABLY NOT, SINCE IT WAS ACTUALLY CONSIDERED A SERVICE TO PROVIDE UNBLEMISHED ANIMALS TO OFFER TO GOD. WAS HE UPSET BECAUSE MANY OF THE MERCHANTS WERE OVERCHARGING THEIR CUSTOMERS? MAYBE SOMEWHAT, BUT HIS ACTIONS SEEMED TO INDICATE THAT HE HATED ALL OF IT. BUT WE GET A CLUE THAT THIS IS REALLY A SYMBOLIC ACTION WHEN THOSE AROUND QUESTION HIM AND SAY “WHAT SIGN CAN YOU SHOW US FOR DOING THIS?” IF YOU READ THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS, THEY WOULD DO SOMETHING STRANGE, AND WHEN ENOUGH PEOPLE HAD BEGAN TO WONDER WHAT WAS GOING ON, THEY WOULD EXPLAIN THEIR ACTIONS IN TERMS OF GOD'S RELATIONSHIP TO ISRAEL. JEREMIAH BROKE A POT, EZECHIEL LAY ON ONE SIDE FOR A VERY LONG TIME, HOSIAH MARRIED A PROSTITUTE ALL AT GOD'S COMMAND, AND LATER EXPLAINED WHAT THE ACTION MEANT.

AND JESUS TELLS THOSE AROUND HIM: DESTROY THIS TEMPLE AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP. AND LATER, THE APOSTLES WOULD REALIZE THAT HE WAS REFERRING TO HIS RESURRECTION. SO THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE WAS ABOUT JESUS' RESURRECTION. THIS MOST SACRED SPACE, HE SEEMED TO BE SAYING, WOULD BE SUPERSEDED BY SOMETHING ELSE. GOD WOULD NO LONGER DWELL ONLY IN THE INMOST PART OF THE TEMPLE, BUT JESUS HIMSELF WOULD BE THE TEMPLE.

YOU AND I ARE TEMPLES AS WELL, BECAUSE WE ARE PART OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. IF WE ARE IN THE STATE OF GRACE, THEN JESUS DWELLS WITHIN US. SOMETIMES, OF COURSE, WE DON'T FEEL MUCH LIKE TEMPLES; SOMETIMES THE STILLNESS AND PEACE IN OUR HEARTS, THERE BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, IS UNDETECTABLE, BECAUSE OF EXTERNAL DISTRACTIONS – GETTING AND SPENDING, LAYING WASTE THE WORLD, AS A GREAT POET PUT IT. THERE ARE INTERNAL DISTRACTIONS AS WELL, THE WORRIES WE HAVE, THE FEAR OF THE FUTURE AND THE REGRETS OF THE PAST. THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO SPEND SO MUCH TIME IN THE FUTURE OR IN THE PAST THAT WE HAVE NO TIME FOR THE PRESENT, WHICH, OF COURSE, IS THE ONLY PLACE WE WILL ENCOUNTER GOD.

LENT, OF COURSE, IS ABOUT GETTING MORE ACQUAINTED WITH THAT STILLNESS AND PEACE IN OUR HEARTS. BUT WHILE THAT'S A GOOD THING, IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU NEED TO BUILD TIME INTO YOUR DAY AND YOUR WEEK TO RENEW THAT ATTENTION TO YOUR CENTER, THE PART WHERE GOD DWELLS.

IT'S A WONDERFUL THING THAT YOU COME HERE EVERY WEEK TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR SUNDAY LITURGY. SADLY, LESS THAN A QUARTER OF OUR PARISHIONERS DO THAT. THE PURPOSE OF MASS IS TO WORSHIP GOD, TO PRAY TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY, AND TO BRING JESUS INTO OUR MIDST. IT IS NOT THE TIME TO ENTER INTO THE STILLNESS THAT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR OUR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE BUILDING UP OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.

BUT OUR CHURCH IS NOT JUST FOR MASS AND SACRAMENTS. IT IS A PLACE WHERE MOST OF THE TIME ANYONE CAN COME IN AND ENJOY THE PEACE AND SILENCE. JESUS IS HERE AS WELL, AND READY TO LISTEN TO US AND SPEAK TO OUR HEARTS. LENT IS A GOOD TIME TO GET IN THE HABIT OF STEPPING OUT OF THE WORLD INTO THIS SANCTUARY ON A REGULAR BASIS

IF YOU HAVE TIME, WE AT ST. MARY'S HAVE A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY. EVERY TUESDAY, THE BLESSED SACRAMENT IS EXPOSED FROM 9:00 TO 3:30. YOU CAN COME IN FOR A VISIT, TO A PLACE WHERE EVERYTHING IS STILL AND JESUS IS PRESENT ON THE ALTAR, AND YOU CAN RECAPTURE THAT PEACE THAT SHOULD BE INSIDE YOU. AND IF YOU COME AT ABOUT 3:00, THE CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY IS SUNG, FOLLOWED BY BENEDICTION AND A BRIEF REFLECTION. IT;S ALL VERY LOW-KEY, AND A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY.

IN CLEANSING THE TEMPLE, JESUS REMINDS US THAT EVEN OUR SACRED SPACE CAN BECOME CLUTTERED AND DISTORTED, AND EVEN UNRECOGNIZABLE. AND THERE HAS TO BE AN EFFORT ON OUR PARTS TO FOCUS ON WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT, TO ALLOW JESUS TO CLEANSE US WHO BECAUSE OF OUR BAPTISM, BECOME TEMPLES OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE AS HE IS HIMSELF.

JESUS, COME IN TO OUR HEARTS AND DRIVE OUT EVERYTHING THAT DISTRACTS US FROM YOURSELF.