THE WORD
Ezk 43,1-2.4-7 / 1 Cor 3,9-11.16-17/ Jn 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 market place.” 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, “ is 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 OTHER WORDS
I was about to say “The Lord be with you” at the beginning of the Holy Mass when a little boy of seven walked with deep respect along the isle and genuflected reverently before taking a place in the pew... Such an impressive gesture!
The temple in the Gospel episode today portray a different picture. The rattling noises of the market place –arguments about prices - make William Barclay’s comments appropriate: ‘in the temple there was worship without reverence.’ He says further that God’s house was being desecrated.
Coming to Church is primarily for the purpose of worship. It must always be coupled with reverence because worship without reverence can be a terrible thing. It is worship that does not bring vividly the holiness of God to the worshipper’s mind and heart. It may also make the atmosphere of worship a kind of marketplace filled with distractions and disorders. In this case, even if a person is well groomed and pretty in his/her appearance, he/she is no better than the wicked traders in the Gospel who have forgotten the true function of God’s house and turned it into a marketplace.
The Gospel invites us to worship God with reverence - devotion, freshness, contemplation and enthusiasm. Patterned after the reminder of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to priests who are going to celebrate the Holy Mass, the following statement is suggested to remind us: “People of God, worship God reverently as if it is your rst worship, your last worship and your only worship.”
- Fr. Dennis B. Testado, SVD | Liceo del Verbo Divino, Tacloban City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
