“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”

john 2:16

John 2:13-22

Reflection

Jesus goes to the temple and drives out people who are selling animals, spills the coins of the money-changers, and tells everyone to stop making his Father’s house a marketplace. He also tells the crowds that they can destroy the temple (his body), and in three days he will raise it up.

The people Jesus drives out of the temple are blatantly disrespecting the holiness of the temple. They are making a sacred space into something more like a grocery store. We might not think this applies to us, but it does in how we treat our own churches, which house Jesus himself.

While people aren’t selling animals or exchanging money in a church, we sometimes do treat the church like an ordinary place, speaking loudly, dressing immodestly, walking around without acknowledging our Lord in the Eucharist. We need to remember that a Catholic church is a sacred space – we have Jesus present in our tabernacles!

It is not an ordinary space, but one that needs to be respected appropriately. Are you aware of Christ’s presence and recognize the sacredness of the space? Reflect on how you act, talk, and dress when you attend Mass, adoration, or other events at your church – how can you improve?

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Saint of the Day

St. Benignus: died AD 467

St. Benignus was a disciple of St. Patrick and his psalm singer. He became a bishop of Ireland and supposedly converted many people because of his sweet voice. St. Benignus, pray for us!