"stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace"

Contemplating on today's Gospel, I would say, some unusual event has happened at the Temple. Jesus has driven the vendors and their stuffs out of the Temple court. It seemed that Jesus got angry as he has knocked over the tables of the money-changers and has ordered the people selling doves by saying: "take all this away and stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace."

Jesus' action made his disciples discover something and while seeing the oxen and the sheep stampeding across the esplanade, the discovered a new aspect of Jesus’ soul: the zeal for his Father's House, the zeal for God's Temple. Going over the Gospel of today, it says: (Jn 2:13-25): "As the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple court He found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves, and money-changers seated at their tables.

Making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the Temple court, together with the oxen and sheep. He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves, «Take all this away and stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!». His disciples recalled the words of Scripture: «Zeal for your House devours me as a fire».

The Jews then questioned Jesus, «Where are the miraculous signs which give you the right to do this?». And Jesus said, «Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up». The Jews then replied, «The building of this temple has already taken forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?».

Actually, Jesus was referring to the temple of his body. Only when He had risen from the dead did his disciples remember these words; then they believed both the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

Jesus stayed in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival and many believed in his Name when they saw the miraculous signs He performed.

But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all of them. He had no need of evidence about anyone for he himself knew what there was in each one."

Well, I am suprised as the Temple of God was turned into a market place! They probably began with a few animals, a shepherd trying to sell some sheep, or an old woman who wanted to make a few coins by selling doves and then the whole place has been blown out into a big mall as trade and industry kept growing and growing.

As Christians, we are the temple of God. If we will not be in the lookout and guard our Temple, these little foxes, pride, sloth, gluttony, envy, avarice, forms of disguised selfishness and many other destructive 'merchants' in the temple of our life, will sneak in and damage everything.

Let's keep watch so that indifference does not invade our conscience: The worst and most dangerous thing we can imagine that may happen to us is being incapable of acknowledging guilt because this in particular makes us incapable of a spiritual growth. Let's make ourselves aware that our temple may remain unblemished and untarnished.

Perhaps what we can do to keep the temple in our hearts strongly standing still unmoved is To keep vigil and watch out every day and night. It may be better to ask ourselves with all honesty: "did I molest someone?, are my intentions straightforward?, am I willing to fulfill always and in everything God's will?, have I assumed some practices that may displease my Lord?" May we be not get too tired and sleepy to think and reflect...

And maybe, we can utter these at the end of the day....—"Jesus, You know me well, You know quite well what each man's mind is like, so make me realize my own faults, give me strength and a little bit of that zeal of Yours so that I can also drive out from the Temple all that might appear to separate me from You."