When Covid began last March and the lockdown affected almost every part of our lives, the churches closed as well. It was traumatic for many not to be able to attend Sunday Mass, then even more so not to be able to celebrate Holy Week and Easter inside the churches we were accustomed to attending. Shortly after the lockdown I began riding my bicycle daily to get out of the house and get exercise. There are two homes next to each other in my neighborhood that posted identical yard signs almost immediately at that time close to the curb. They read, “The church has left the building,” then under it, “the people are the Church.” That has given me comfort as I pass almost every day. Yes, we love our church buildings and want to gather together, but our faith tells us the Church is the people living out our discipleship following Jesus every day in all we say and do. Hopefully, soon we will all be able to return to our communal worship but in the meantime we take strength in our faith which makes us all Church.
Today’s gospel is a bit troubling as it is seems to be out of the norm. It is known as the Cleansing of the Temple. What is striking in the story is we never see Jesus physically angry in any of the gospel except here. He actually becomes violent, whipping, overturning tables and running people out. However, it was a different kind of anger, somewhat like the protests we have seen around racial injustice, economic disparity, and kids demanding safe schools free of guns.
Jesus was constructing something new. Jesus had spoken forcefully many times, confronting especially those in power who abused the poor and vulnerable. However, Jesus never was physically violent except here at the temple. One translation of his words in the gospel is “You have made this a den of thieves.” The operative word is “thieves.” People were being robbed. What Jesus saw was the robbing of the poor who were simply trying to be devout Jews. Jesus substitutes himself for the temple. He is especially the place for those suffering, the poorest and most in need. In the Eucharist we receive Jesus, and we are called to see Him in the poor and be committed to them.
Jesus cleanses the temple today precisely for the same reason. It was supposed to be sacred space where all could come to access the divinity, but some few had made it a profit center and even a place to cheat the poor. Jesus says from now on he is the temple, accessible to all. His priority is to focus on the people and their relationships to God and not the building. That is why he came, namely to connect us to God so that we would see God in a different way, more accessible, close to us, a compassionate and loving Father. We are temples of God. We are the Body of Christ.
The issue of justice in this action is a key factor of this story. Jesus is angry that the poor were being forced to buy animals in the temple for sacrifice with money needed for basics like food. They could have brought an animal for much less cost from the outside, but that was not allowed. There was a monopoly going on in the name of worship. Doves were the only animals for sale in the temple that the poor could afford. The temple was sacred space, which is where people accessed God. Sacred actions were done there. Jesus objected to the attitudes where the money was first, not the disposition and heart and piety of the person. God wanted justice and righteousness to be the offering, not the sacrifices of animals.
Another abuse of the poor in the temple was the changing of currency. The money changers were the ones to change Roman coins, which the people had to use for daily transactions, into Jewish coins. The reason was that the Roman coin was inscribed with the face of the emperor and the words, “Image of the Divine Ceasar.” This was blasphemous to Jews since they believed in one God only. Inside the temple the religious leaders only allowed Jewish currency, so people coming to buy an animal for sacrifice had to change their money. If you have ever had the experience of changing currency at the airport when arriving in another country and feeling you were losing out on the exchange rate, you begin to get the picture of what was happening. Multiple that by ten! The temple money changers were notorious for cheating the poor in the name of worship, and the poor had no recourse but to buy the animal at inflated rates and exchange their money at a loss. The poor lost out twice simply trying to be devout. Now, are you angry like Jesus? You got the picture!
This gospel story is a good reminder during Lent that we must remember the poor and sacrifice for them. Reach out, be committed. The poor have so many strikes against them in their daily lives. Often they struggle against a system that they have no knowledge or power to deal with. They often come losing. Catholic Charities promotes Forty Cans for Lent in the parishes to collect from each parish family food for the those in need. This year with Covid, the loss of jobs, especially in areas that employ the working poor, has been devastating. The winter storm just made it worse.
We also need to keep aware of the poor throughout the world this Lent. Those of us who experienced power outages and water shortages during the recent big freeze now have a tiny taste of what the majority of the world lives with every day. I saw it with my own eyes traveling with Catholic Relief Services in Africa, India, and Central America. Billions live without power or running water in the home. Some walk hours to the nearest water source every day. CRS Rice Bowl is a Lenten program to remember and support the most vulnerable throughout the world.
Jesus came to give us a new way to approach God, a huge change. This gospel story was written at a time when the early Jewish Christians were being ejected from the temple for being traitors to the faith. They saw in this story a justification, a way to make the change of not going to the temple. Jesus was the temple as he says in this gospel and his followers formed his temple. Around this same time the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in retaliation for the Jewish revolt. It was a terrible collective shock to all Israel and all Jews. Yet for Jewish Christians it became the moment to make way for the new temple which is Christ.
This story appears in all four gospels. However, in the other three it happens after Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem before his passion. It becomes one of the final reasons to kill Jesus. John does not present it in that context. Rather, John shows it as a theological event. Here it happens at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as a “sign.” The temple had become the object of adoration, not God, so Jesus places things right. Jesus’ body substitutes for the temple, a truly revolutionary act. It is a new worship centered in the relationship between God and believers, not just tied to one location.
Here in San Antonio the archbishop this week asked that despite our governor’s loosening of Covid mandates, those who attend Mass should continue with masks and all virus protocols. The best way to be Church is to be considerate of all who are Church.
We are the Body of Christ, the Church, the new temple. Worship is in all we do, whether inside a building or anywhere. Our life, faithfully lived, becomes uninterrupted prayer. Lent is the time to imitate Jesus and see the poor and vulnerable as those deserving of our action. Be the hands of Jesus this Lent, but most of all be Church by being the the heart of Jesus.
Fr. David Garcia is a retired priest from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, where he served for 44 years. During that time, Fr. Garcia was instrumental in the effort to have the Old Spanish Missions recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also oversaw the multimillion-dollar restoration of San Fernando Cathedral. Fr. David served as pastor for several parishes in San Antonio, including the historic Mission Concepción. He also served as Senior Advisor for Clergy Outreach at Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian and relief agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.