Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

 

Gospel Reading: John 2:13-22

 

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.

 

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear the story of the cleansing of the temple. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem for the preparation of the Passover. When he arrives in the temple, he finds the traders and money-exchanges have made the house of the Word of God a marketplace. So why would Jesus care if the temple became a marketplace? The temple was a place where people would come to worship God, to pray and to reflect upon the Word of God. How difficult is it for us to pray when we have all these distractions around us? In addition, the temple would have become overwhelmed with the smells of wild animals and their droppings. The putrid odors would have distracted from the reverence of the Temple. The house of God had become defaced by the market place. Jesus cleansed the temple of those things that defiled it. We too are called to purge our own temples, our bodies of those things that defile us. Our body is a temple and must be kept clean. It is time to cleanse our souls, our hearts and our minds. Purifying our body is an important process of preparing us for our own death and resurrection. We need to be diligent in keeping our own souls pure and clean. This is done through inward reflections and an examination of our own conscience. Most importantly, it is done through Reconciliation.

 

A Simple Prayer

 

Lord, help me to recognize that my body is a temple of God.

May my faith and love for you help keep it clean and purified.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon