{"id":3039,"date":"2021-03-04T08:13:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T07:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=3039"},"modified":"2021-03-04T08:20:59","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T07:20:59","slug":"3039","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=3039","title":{"rendered":"Third Sunday of Lent Year B Jn,13-25"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
We can also use fasting time to get to know ourselves and our place in the environment and make the necessary correction.<\/h2>\n
At the end of the incident, John the Apostle, when Jesus cleansed the Jerusalem Temple from cattle, money changers, and other grievances with his whip, \u201cHe knew everyone, and he did not need anyone to bear witness to him. For he knew what was in man \u201d(Johan 2: 24-25).<\/h2>\n
The third Sunday of Lent tells us that we are in the middle of Lent. The Gospel of the Purification of the Temple of Jerusalem by Jesus is a challenge to realize our responsibility for our souls’ condition and perhaps for the condition of the church. Jesus was aroused by righteous anger, saying, “Do not make my father’s house a marketplace” (Johan 2:16). In the Jerusalem Temple, God precisely determined through Moses what could take place, who and why could stay there. The sanctuary played a role, the courtyards of the temple, where bloody and bloodless sacrifices were offered, where only priests, believing Jews and pagans, had access. Over time, the desire to sell and gain the best has led some to places not designed for it. We can understand Jesus’ behavior in another light. Jesus is sovereign as the expected and foretold Messiah. By his behavior, he proves who he is and what the temple should be. He presents himself as the Messiah and acts not only in word but also indeed. The event took place shortly before Jewish Easter when Jews commemorate their liberation from Egyptian slavery. Many have forgotten the essence of why this event is celebrated in the nation. The feast became a time of travel, trade, visits, and sacrifices, perhaps out of habit, but the nation forgot that the Messiah would come with a different mission. The nation was waiting for the Messiah to free them from the hated Romans. He united the Jewish temple and saw it as something most sacred. Jesus comes to die for the nation, so they ask, “What sign will you show us that you can do this?” Jesus replies, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will build it.” he spoke of the temple of his body. \u201d(Johan 2:21). The Jews did not understand this answer. Jesus desires to focus the Jews’ attention on himself, his mission, his life. He is a sanctuary of God in the full sense of the word. He is God, although people see only his body. Jesus clearly represents his divine-human nature. Enemies do not understand Jesus’ words about the temple. Jesus knows why he came to earth; he wants to die for the sins of all and allow them to return to the Father.<\/h2>\n
Today we understand not only the words of Jesus but also the words of the apostle: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16) We understand that the whip with which we expel God from our hearts is sin, and sin we ruin the sanctuary of God in us. The interior of man after sin is a marketplace. Screams, riots, trades, words and words, our deeds and thoughts insult God. One can sell one’s God, soul, and eternity in such a market, and one does not have to get thirty pieces of silver for it. Am I not a bad trader? Lent prepares us for the greatest feasts of the resurrection of the Lord, but also our resurrection. Let’s stop shopping in our lives; let’s stop selling God and our Christianity. If we find that things unnecessary have accumulated in our sanctuary – the soul, and we have turned our hearts into the cave of Satan, it is time to go to work to cleanse it and return to God. When we renounce sin, our hearts are purified, and at the same time, the ruined temple of our soul is transformed into a sanctuary. Already in the Old Testament, God said in the Ten Commandments what we are obliged to keep (cf. Ex 20: 1-17). If it was ever necessary to keep these commandments, it is today, and it is we who are obliged to keep them because we decide for ourselves. God knows what is in us, but we decide freely and consciously about our eternity. Our behavior, thoughts, words, and deeds are to be by the commandments of Moses’ two tablets of stone.<\/h2>\n
It would not be bad for similar boards to hang in a visible place, at least during Lent, with the words: Keep quiet during your stay in the church. The place where you stand is holy. God wants to talk to you. At least listen to him here. Realize that God wants to be in your body like in a temple. Purify your temple in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Gain strength so that when you leave, the temple of the soul is not endangered. When you leave the temple, take God’s words for yourself and talk to others and others.<\/h2>\n
We can remember that from the state of our souls’ temples, one can also know the material state, the church in which we meet. We can say of the church that it is the house of God, the house of prayer, the earthly house of our God\u2026 Jesus himself says: \u201cDo not make my father’s house a market.\u201d (Johan 2:16) The concern for the material church and the concern for the temple of your body cannot be underestimated.<\/h2>\n
There was a strange fall in a goldsmith on a busy street. In a store with more buyers, he began smashing glass cases and stuffing gold into bags. True, the police detained him. During the interrogation, the man was asked, “What did you think of looting in a store where there were many people and still in the middle of the day?” answered? “Really? I overlooked that. I only saw gold. “ Yes, the man was sick\u2014a strange disease. The sight of gold, so to speak, obscured his mind and free will. He did not think; he lost control, he lost his judgment\u2026 Why? For a very long time, he had only been concerned with the desire for gold. Have as much gold as possible; own all the gold.<\/h2>\n
When the apostles saw Jesus casting out merchants and money changers, they remembered the words of the psalm: “I am consumed with zeal for your house” (Psalm 69:10). I am consumed with zeal for your house \u201d(Psalm 69:10), and they have acted responsibly against their souls and the temple in which we meet.<\/h2>\n
Lent time enters the second half. It is time for the actions of a Christian. We don’t have to see a video of a part of our lives; we need to use our time and want to see ourselves in the right light. Then we can drive out the older man and start living like new people. And so is everyone like the parish. Participation in the liturgy, singing, access to the sacraments, and the cleanliness and maintenance of the church, the condition in which it is, says something about us.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"