In this week’s Gospel (Jn 2:13-25) we hear about Jesus cleansing of the temple. Jesus says, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” I often wonder what Jesus would say if he walked into the “Catholic Church” (or any denomination honestly) today. We have people on the right and on the left selling their “oxen” and “doves” for us to buy and sacrifice on the “true” altar.
If we just buy their book, pay their speaker, wear the right clothing, or get our priests into the correct vestments, we will be saved. I am not saying that any of the things that are being sold “within” the church are bad. Yet, the oxen and doves were not “bad” either, they were actually important to the worship of the day. I think the problem is when they overshadow the correct worship that we owe God.
We need to listen to the word of God by reading the bible, and learning from tradition. We need to talk to God in prayer. We need to remember that we need to give God time to speak to us in prayer. We can’t let “good things” take over the temple of our hearts. I for one know I need to let Jesus drive some bad habits out of my life. I also have to have the humility to be wrong.
This lent I pray that I can open my heart to find the right balance. When I buy, or buy into, something, that it will help me grow this relationship, and not become an end onto itself. That God will stay at the center of my worship. The center of my life.
