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Today we will see another aspect of Jesus, we will see His righteous judgment against those who were cheating and oppressing the people, turning the sacredness of his Father’s house into a merchandise market. We will see him consumed by his zeal for your House. May we too have that zeal in our hearts and be led in peace by your Holy Spirit. Cleanse us through your purifying fire that we may then be a cleansing fire for the world. May we "overturn the tables" of the international bankers, and "drive" the globalizing corporations from your holy Temple. And may we know the danger implicit in challenging this world and the powers that control it. Jesus knew the penalty for questioning such authority was death, but He also knew something His enemies did not. Kill him and 3 days later He would rise again, triumphant over death and all structures of evil and wickedness in the world.
Teach us the way of love and care, teach us how to care so much that we act.
And may - in that action - we follow the footsteps of an humble carpenter, a rural rabbi who loved the poor and all who were rejected, and who also opened his heart to those who were not poor. And may your house be big enough for all who love you, and do justice and mercy, for all who walk humbly before you, and their neighbor. All this we ask in the name of Christ our Lord. AMEN
(adapted from an excerpt of Robert Waldrop’s Lenten Commentary on Jn 2:13-25 found at www.justpeace.org/)