DAILY- HOMILY

MARCH 11, 2012
3RD SUNDAY OF LENT – B

Ex 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17 / 1 Cor 1:22-25 / Jn 2:13-25

EXODUS 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17
God spoke all these words. He said, "I am Yahweh your God who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Do not have
other gods before me. Do not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain
for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who takes his name in
vain. Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Honor your father and
your mother that you may have a long life in the land that Yahweh has
given you. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not
give false witness against your neighbor. Do not covet your neighbor's
house. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, or his servant, man or
woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his."

1 CORINTHIANS 1:22-25
The Jews ask for miracles and the Greeks for a higher knowledge,
while we proclaim a crucified Messiah. For the Jews, what a great
scandal! And for the Greeks, what nonsense! But he is Christ, the
power of God and the wisdom of God for those called by God among both
Jews and Greeks. In reality, the "foolishness" of God is wiser than
humans, and the "weakness" of God is stronger than humans.

JOHN 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 moneychangers 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 moneychangers, 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 like
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
will you 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.

REFLECTION
In the bible, we rarely see Jesus angry. But in today's Gospel, we
see him making a whip out of cords and driving all the vendors and
moneychangers away from the temple. He said, "Stop making my Father's
house a marketplace!" Why compare the temple to a marketplace? A
marketplace is dirty, chaotic, noisy – the exact opposite of a temple:
clean, orderly, quiet. Jesus gives deep respect and devotion to the
temple because it is the house of God. His rage against the vendors
and moneychangers is thus understandable, as they desecrated the
temple.

In the spiritual realm, we are not far from being like the unruly
vendors and moneychangers. We don't desecrate the physical temple but
people's hearts, which are also the temple of God's Spirit. How? We
hurt people. We make them unhappy. Sometimes we make their lives
miserable with our uncharitable words and actions. We intentionally
hurt others because of anger, hatred, envy, rivalry, competition, and
biases. When we criticize people, laugh at their mistakes, accuse them
falsely, respond sarcastically, ignore them, or inflict emotional and
physical pain – we are actually desecrating the temple of God in
others. Deeply rooted in our hearts is an unruly "vendor-like"
attitude that sees others as things that can be used or abused. We
don't see them as our brothers and sisters, nor as temples of the Holy
Spirit.

Worshipping God is intrinsically connected with respecting others.
Respecting others is respecting God. That's true worship! Jesus
summarized the Ten Commandments of Moses in two commandments: "Love
God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor as you
love yourself."

If Jesus was deeply affected when the Jerusalem Temple was desecrated
by the vendors and moneychangers, how much more when we offend and
hurt others? We should be more careful with our words and actions.
Thoughtful words and actions could console and uplift a heart, whereas
harsh words and actions could destroy a soul. We are not unruly
vendors and moneychangers by nature. We are children of God, born to
love, and destined to care

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Tung-Jou Sheh
- Kristen, Maria, Linda O, Mary Ann, Delores, Nick, Netta, Martha,
Maureen, & Jane
- Chief Samrose Anyaugo
- Mon Torres
- Rakkie Villa
- Tonie Lingad
… for the personal intentions of
- Dana, Eugene R, Rita & Pam & Ben
- Dr Ugo Anyaugo, Ogechi Anyaugo, Barr Obinna Okoronkwo, Barr Mrs
Barbara Adaugo Okoronkwo, Ifeanyi Anyaugo, 'Chuba Osi Anyaugo,
Cordelia Anyaugo and Kelechi Ozurumba
… Birthday: Ram de Guzman
… for the eternal repose of the soul of Eliezer Billanes. Eternal
rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them. May they
and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Gio C. Ventura
- Birthday: Sis. Ramira Uy
- Birthday: Dr. Matilde Gonzales
- Birthday: Leonilo A. Palanca
- In Memoriam (+): Natividad L. Chuakay
- In Memoriam (+): Yang Moon Chu
- In Memoriam (+): Saw Cen
… for families who are in need of healing
… for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only.
Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends,
colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the
following:

+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

© 2012 Daily-Homily