3rd.Sunday of Lent (Year B). (March 3, 2024) Ex 20:1-17; I Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25.
“Take these out of here, and don’t make my Father’s house a market place…”
We all have the tendency to be distracted. In 1970, the average American saw between
500 and 1,600 ads a day. In 2023, that number jumped to between 6,000 and 10,000 ads
per day, surfing the internet. We are so attracted and consumed that we lose track of our
original intent and go down a wormhole of images and information bombarding us with the
message that, our lives will be happier and more fulfilled with whatever is being
advertised. (Unwholesome sites…?).
Life Message: But it is not only advertisers and influencers who are aware of our tendency
to lose attention or be distracted. God is also keenly aware and calls us back time and
again to what truly matters. So, for instance our lent began with God speaking through the
Prophet Joel: “…Rend your hearts, and not your garments; and return to me with your
whole hear…” (Joel 2:12). Indeed, God knows that our desire is ultimately for him. But
when we mistake our worldly distractions, some of which are dangerous and addictive, for
true holiness, we begin to believe that we will be fulfilled in life. This means, sometimes,
our distractions can become so ingrained that we come to believe they are our ultimate
path to holiness. Hence in the 1st.reading, while Moses is busily receiving the 10
Commandments from Yahweh on the Mountain, the Israelites are worshipping a golden
calf at the base. Their impatience quickly leads them astray, but God doesn’t give up,
and calls them back again. Yes, God also knows our impatience, our fixations, and
our longing in a world competing for our attention, yet He calls us back.
Conclusion: When this happens, God’s intervention at times can seem intrusive and
chaotic, disrupting our clear boundaries, and established methods and invented rules.
Thus, in today’s gospel, Jesus overturns the tables of the moneychangers, drives away the
animal and dove sellers (an enshrined practice in the Temple, aligned with the worship of
God).
Why? People are so fixated on making profits out of the engagements, rendering it a total
distraction from what they are about: “the true worship of God”! Jesus' cleansing of the
temple is also a prophetic sign of what he wants to do with each of us. He ever seeks to
cleanse us of our sinful ways to make us into living temples of his Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19).
God desires that we be holy as he is holy. Therefore, on our Lenten journey, God invites us
to recognize our distraction and our holy longing. What are the tables in our lives that we
think are essential, but really need to be overturned? How does God disrupt us every day,
from the distractions that vie for our attention? God implore us to return to the source of
our longing, and not settle for any imitation. (Song: Come back to me, with all your
heart…).