THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT,YR B
Ex 20:1-3,7-8,12-17; Ps 18
1 Cor. 1:22-25; Jn 2: 13-25
RESTORING THE CHURCH
On the first Sunday of Lent, we encountered Jesus in the desert where we were also invited to overcome our temptations and have a transforming encounter with God. For the second week, we joined the three disciples of Jesus to have a glimpse of the glory that awaits those who persevere in the Lord.
Today we go with Jesus in to the Temple, the place of God’s presence among the people. (Jn 2:13-25).
Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover but on reaching the Temple he came upon people trading inside. This made Jesus angry. He made whips and drove them all out because they have made the Temple, which should be a place for God’s presence, into a “market place and a den of thieves”.
The phrase, “he came upon or found”, simply means, ‘to find something without looking for it’, or ‘to find something one is looking for’. What this means is that, it was not difficult for anyone to see what was going on. It was all happening in the open and Jesus could not understand why no one was making an attempt to correct it. We must note that the scripture did not say what they were doing was wrong. This was because they were offering a good service to help people from the diaspora. However, the issue is that they were doing it in the court of Gentiles which was part of the Temple. By this, they deprived the Gentiles from praying to the God of Israel.
We can see that many things are happening in the Church today which is wrong but no one is doing anything about it. In many ways, the Church has rather become an obstacle for people to have an encounter with God. Many may wonder how Church has become an obstacle for encountering God. Jesus gives the answer when he says, “…stop making my Father’s house into a market”. (Jn 2:16)
Sadly, we see many “men of God” treating the church as a business. We hear many people using the expression “Church business”. Why doesn’t anyone care? Is it not our duty to call them out?
The Church becomes a market place when it is all about making money. When the focus is not winning souls but making money, it becomes a business.
The Church is a market place when it is concerned with branding. This kind of branding comes with “catchy phrases” without deep spiritual connection with God.
When the Church is a market place it becomes a place of competition. It is becoming increasingly common to see Christians and worse of all Pastors fighting amongst themselves as to which Church is better or which Pastor is more powerful. Whatever ‘powerful’ means.
I remember when the President of Ghana called Christian Leaders for a prayer meeting to seek the face of God against the Covid-19 virus; many were looking for how their Pastor will pray powerfully. Unsurprisingly, after a programme that was to see us together seeking God’s face, some Christians were seen almost grading the prayer of their Pastors against others.
The Church is a market place today and it seems nobody cares. Jesus is Angry.
When the Church becomes a market place, the real presence of God is lost. Competition and division now takes its place, souls perish and the Church becomes no different from any secular institution. Not the gospel of salvation but the deceit and lure of material wealth takes place. Why can’t anybody see it?
We read that, looking at the actions of Jesus, the disciples remembered Psalm 69:9, which says, “zeal for your house consumes me”. That is how much Jesus Loves the Temple and that is how much he loves the Church, his body. Is there anyone out there who also loves the Church that much? Are you also consumed with zeal for the Church?
Anyone who is filled with zeal for the Church will rise to make it better.
John reports that Jesus “made whips” to drive out those “making his Father’s house a market place”. (Jn 2:15-16). In other words, Jesus was restoring the Temple to a place set apart for prayer. We too must get up and stand firm for what will make the Church a place of encounter with God. We must unmake the market dimension and direction of the church.
Are we also to whip people? No! We are to stand up and speak against any form of division, especially, tribalism, racism, classism and anything that can potentially keep people out of the Church. We are to stand up for unity and charity.
We must return to evangelisation: preaching the gospel by word and deed.
I have noticed that prayer groups are gradually dying within the Church (Catholic Churches in Ghana especially) and social groups with little prayer and spiritual activities are taking over. We must be angry enough and make cords to restore the Church to what we know her to be.
Today, the Third Sunday of Lent, we are all called to work so that the Church becomes the true body of Christ, where all may seek the Lord, to listen to His voice and to act on His Word.
May the Church become the sacrament of God’s salvation to many and not merely a social enterprise or a business auditorium.
May she become a place where the poor find help, the sorrowful are consoled and the hopeless find hope.
Be consumed with zeal for the house of God.
God bless you.
By Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
