Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church

Homily for March 19, 2006
Liturgical Year B-Cycle II
3rd Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Joshua Nyoni
Topic: Temples of the Holy Spirit
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Reading I
Ex 20:1-17
In those days, God delivered all these commandments:

“I, the LORD, am your God,  who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;  you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,  inflicting punishment for their fathers (wickedness  on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation;  but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation  on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished  the one who takes his name in vain.

“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,  or your male or female slave, or your beast,  or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,  the sea and all that is in them;  but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother,  that you may have a long life in the land  which the LORD, your God, is giving you.

You shall not kill.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,  nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,  nor anything else that belongs to him.”

Gospel
John 2: 13-15
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 marketplace.” 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,  “This 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.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,  many began to believe in his name  when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,  and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.
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In the first reading, we encounter a God who makes a covenant with us, his people and he gives us the Commandments.  The Commandments are for us, they are not for God.  They are for our well-being.  We could say that the rules, regulations and commandments are given so that life is manageable for everyone.  Just imagine what it would be like if there were no highway codes, no rules governing matters of everything, such as education, health and safety or transport: no planning regulations restricting building in inappropriate locations.  Without rules, we can be what Betrand Russel once said : “Homo homini lupus”- ( Man can be a wolf to his neighbor).  The trouble with rules is that at times they can become so complex that we lose sight of what they are there for- which is to help us live peaceable in community.  Ultimately, rules exist for the sake of relationships.  The Ten Commandments were given to us so that we can constantly check ourselves whether we are off-track or still on the right track.  They are a means to personal cleansing.

Jesus takes up the issue of cleansing. We encounter Jesus cleansing the temple. The house of God had become a market-place. Jesus drove out money-changers, turned the tables up-side-down because the house of God had been turned up-side-down. He was angry with what was happening in the Temple.  The Temple was supposed to be a place of prayer and covenant, a place where God dwells. The dramatic action of Jesus driving out the merchants and money changers displays for us what ought to be our priority: having a right relationship with God and a just relationship with each other.

Jesus acted like that because God’s house was being desecrated – made unclean.  There was some kind of worship without reverence. Worship without reverence can be a terrible thing. Here we come to a point where we need to ask ourselves:
In what ways do we desecrate or make unclean God’s house or God’s church? With all what is happening in our Church, the Roman Catholic Church: If Jesus were to come now, would he happy or he would fume into anger?

Jesus acted the way he did because God’s house was no longer a house of prayer.  Is this church of ours still a house of prayer or not? When we come in here do we feel the presence of God? Do we encounter God? Do we worship with reverence?

My final point is this interesting shift which we see in the Gospel : Jesus moves from the cleansing of the temple [a building], to speaking about his body – as the temple because God prefers to dwell in our bodies - our hearts.  St. Paul says that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. If we are temples of the Holy Spirit, we need to cleanse or purify ourselves. In what ways do we make unclean or desecrate ourselves?

May these thoughts help us to reach God.