Maryland.
Today’s readings from the Holy Scriptures teach us that Lent is the ideal time for cleaning out the temple of our own hearts and offering to God proper divine worship by obeying the Ten Commandments. In the first reading, we heard from the book of Exodus about the commandments. We may have heard the commandments God has given to us over and over again from our childhood. Sometimes, it can have a negative impact on our lives, rather than a positive impact. But what God has given to us is not restricting us. God is encouraging us to do good. If God says once don’t kill, that means we have the responsibility to promote life 100 times.
From these commandments, we see relationships. Through original sin, we have damaged the relationship we had with our God who created us. The commandments help us to have a proper relationship with our God as well as with one another. That is the purpose of the commandments God has given to us. He said, I am your God, you shall not have other gods besides me. In Matthew 22:36-38, Jesus explained that all the commandments can be summarized in these two: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. We should not place any earthly things ahead of God; otherwise, those can be idols.
In the responsorial Psalm, we heard “Lord, you have the words of everlasting life” (John 6:68). Only God has the words of everlasting life. If we keep the commandments, it refreshes our souls. During this time of Lent, God invites all of us to refresh our souls, hearts, and lives so that we may run joyfully to eternal life and finish the earthly lives God has given to us.
In the second reading (1 Corinthians 1:22-25), St. Paul explains that some people are only interested in signs and other people are only interested in intellectual satisfaction. But Paul is presenting a crucified Christ. For Jews, a crucified Christ was absolute folly, disastrous. But Paul says there is a great wisdom behind this crucifix. St. Paul also explains that the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom. That makes sense because God is the author of our lives. God has given us intellect. God created us. Everything is involved in that creation, including our thoughts and our minds. Therefore, his foolishness is much above our own wisdom. As Isaiah 55:9 says, the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.
In today’s Gospel, there are three main points I would like to present. First, Jesus is entering into the temple in Jerusalem. Unlike the synoptic Gospels where we see Jesus entering just before the crucifixion, John presents this at the beginning for theological reasons. Jesus is entering, and the first thing he does is to cleanse the temple. He clearly showed his dissatisfaction with what was going on. He also symbolically established a new covenant. During this time of Lent, God also wants to cleanse our own hearts.
Second, Jesus said destroy this temple and in three days, I will raise it up. Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. Jesus wants us to know that the incarnate Word is the new dwelling of God. John 1:14 says the Word became flesh. Jesus is the new temple, and we ourselves are the temple of the living God. In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, the Word of God says, you are the temple of the living God. Every time we come to the Church, we are entering into this sacred territory where we meet our God. God makes us his temple. Every time we receive Jesus, we become a living temple of God, a living tabernacle of God. We carry Jesus wherever we go.
Third, many people believed in Jesus because of the miracles he performed. Even today, people are interested in the prosperity gospel; people are after miracles. But the essence of Christianity is not just miracles but Christ himself. The Word of God says Jesus did not trust himself to them because Jesus knew what was inside of them, and not only them but what is inside of us. God is also looking at our inner, not external, selves. It is a wonderful time for all of us to renew, transform, and change our lives so that this Lent will become more and more meaningful to us. During this Mass, we can pray for that grace to have an internal manifestation or change, metanoia. If we do that, we will be able to walk with our Lord. Our lives will become a living tabernacle of God who created us. For that grace, during this Mass, we can pray.