Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk 

Third Sunday of Lent, Year B – March 4, 2018.

Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; Ps 18:8-11; 1 Cor. 1:18-25; Gospel – John 2:13-25.

Theme: The Commercialisation of Christianity and the Desecration of God’s Temple!

Introduction

Beloved in the Lord, our reflection today attempts a “de-commodification” of the commodification and commercialisation of Christianity as well as the desecration of the temple of the Lord. A background to this reflection is drawn from the first, second and gospel readings which dispose us to the evil of commercializing religion and the danger of destroying God’s temple which stands for both the Church as a building and the human person created in the image and likeness of God. First, we shall take a look at liturgical readings in the light of take-home lessons. 

Explication of the Liturgical Readings

In the first reading (Exodus 20:1-17), the Ten Commandments of God are presented to the people of Israel. The Ten Commandments are summarised into the love of God and the love of neighbour (Mark 12:30-31). What is significant about the first two commandments which demand respect for the name and person of God forbade the abuse of God’s name. These two commandments reveal the concept of a person’s name being the same thing as the person in Hebrew Tradition. The implication is that what you did to a person’s name was invariably done to the person. The respect that is due to God extends to everything about him which includes His temple.

The message of the first reading prepares us for the message of the gospel reading (John 2:13-25) wherein Jesus expels the money changers and merchants selling pageants for commodification of religion and decorating the temple of the Lord.  The cleansing of the temple was an attempt by Jesus to establish the sacredness of the Church as a place of true worship. Jesus would later identify His body as a temple that He would build in three days after it has being destroyed (John 2:19). What this means again, is that the Church is not just a building but people. This is why the Word of God says, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The cleansing of the temple (Church building) is the first step at purifying ourselves as a Church to be fit to worship God in an ecclesiastical edifice. The Church building is the sign of God’s presence.  

Perhaps the Jews did not recognise the importance of the temple as a place of true worship and not a place of commercialization; perhaps they did not recognise Jesus as the anointed one to whom true worship must be directed; this is why the message of the second reading (1 Cor. 1:18-25) connects with both the first reading and the gospel because it states that the Jews demanded for signs of God’s presence among them. Once more, the second reading reveals the person of Jesus as the anointed one to whom true worship in body and spirit must be addressed. We shall now look at those areas where we commercialize and desecrate Christianity.