Was Jesus just having a bad day?!
The account of the cleansing of the temple occurs in each of the four Gospels. It is not all that common that an event in the ministry of Jesus is across all the Gospels. Interestingly, whereas in Mark, Matthew and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) this event occurs later in his ministry, in John it happens at the beginning of his ministry following the wedding feast at Cana.
What then is John inviting his early Christian community to ponder? For John’s community, the Temple, destroyed in 70AD, is no longer a place of worship. John, in recalling the cleansing of the temple, is explaining that in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection the Temple as the place of worship has been surpassed. It is with, through, and in Jesus that we give praise and worship to his Father.
The temple Jesus speaks of is his body, and we now are his body. As St Teresa of Avila has been attributed with saying: “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.”
The Sacred Heart Cathedral is nearly complete, a few months to go! And it is being beautifully strengthened and restored. Recently some stunning mosaic and marble steps were ‘discovered’ and will now be visible to the worshipping community again.
Lent is a time for us to ‘restore’ the living body of Christ; you and me. For us to discover anew aspects of our true life which may have become unstable or covered over through the past year.
We will have a beautiful Cathedral in which to welcome others. May this Lenten season enable our own beauty to also radiate, so that we may truly reflect the beauty of the Body of Christ.
With prayers, patrick
