Jesus' dramatic act of expelling the merchants from the Temple - the theme of this Sunday's Gospel - earned him the hatred of the authorities, who profited economically from this trade, but the admiration of the people. Thus we read: "While he was in Jerusalem for the Passover feasts, many believed in his name, seeing the signs that he did". But what is surprising is what the evangelist tells us next: "But Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because he knew them all and did not need anyone's testimony about a man, because he knew what is inside each man.". Jesus knew them all... he knew what was in man. Jesus, as God, knows us inside. He made us.
He knows our secret thoughts. He knows, for example, when we are becoming a den of thieves instead of a house of prayer. We are told: "And he made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, sheep and oxen; and to the money changers he scattered the coins and overturned their tables; and to those who sold doves he said, 'Take these things hence: do not make my Father's house a marketplace.'". He knows the cattle and sheep that must be driven out of us: those animal desires, because we often behave like dumb beasts. He may have to overturn our coins from the money changers, just as God sometimes allows financial ruin because it is good for us. We think we will be safe by accumulating wealth and that only leads us away from God.
God knows what is in our heart. The first reading deals with the Ten Commandments, which are like the map to get to God. Do we have them in our heart? Do we know the Ten Commandments? Would God find them in our heart? A sincere desire to live them and not a heart that is really a "market" because we are always thinking about what we would like to buy and possess, or what we want to sell to enrich ourselves. Our hearts should strive to be temples of God, houses, hearts of prayer, where the commandments occupy a privileged place.
To what extent is it our priority to be a good person? To love God above all, to honor his name, to sanctify Sunday, to honor our parents, to respect life and resist violence, to live chastely sexuality as God wants us to live it, to be honest in what we say, to detach ourselves from material goods... The Commandments lead us to holiness and happiness, perfected by the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. Then you will see that our hearts are true temples that give glory to God, where he is pleased to dwell.
Homily on the readings for the third Sunday of Lent
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
