Sunday March 7, 2021 - Third Sunday of Lent - God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that those who believe in him may have everlasting life - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 2, 13-25

In the gospel we just heard, Jesus prevents the Jewish people from using the temple of God as a house of commerce: "Stop making my Father's house a house of commerce." During his ministry, Jesus was always merciful and he had compassion on the people who were with him. Take for example the sinners and the sick who ask Jesus for help. Jesus often offers the sick a gift infinitely more excellent than the healing of the body, the forgiveness of sins which heals their souls (cf. Mt 9, 2). But in the gospel we have heard, He was especially severe on the people who used the temple as a trading house.

Here Jesus leads us to recognize the sacred value of the temple of God. Note that the temple represents in Jewish culture the center of worship practices and in the surroundings are offered for sale animals for the holocaust. Jesus has nothing against it, but he is opposed to it becoming a market rather than a place of worship. For Jesus, the Temple is the place where one comes to worship the Father, a place to meet God.

We too often make the church a house of commerce; it is felt through the way we pray. Sometimes when we pray we are not seeking the will of God, but we are expecting God to bend to our will. We only ask God for what makes us happy. This is what irritates Jesus. In addition, we know very well that our heart is a temple of God. So, as long as we bring something into our hearts that brings us pride, laziness, jealousy, we also make it a house of commerce.