Gospel Reflections for March 4 2018
Zeal for my house consumes me
The famous Ten Commandments are listed the first reading. What are they really about?
Well, imagine a friend who is thinking of proposing to a girl for marriage and comes to you for advice on how to make his marriage last and for their marriage to be happy forever. You think for a moment and then say …“Do not steal from her …cheat on her …lie about her …or kill her!”
He would be shocked to hear you say that! It would never occur to him to do any of those horrible things to someone he loves deeply. Yet, that is what the commandments say. The Ten Commandments were written for those who …do not love, and need to be told how to behave!
The Ten Commandments are actually not needed at all for those who already love. Their authentic love ensures they naturally live the commandments now.
You would only want those behaviors of love in your life and in your house now as well.
Jesus comes into the Temple area in the Gospel story. The Temple was built as the sacred house for people to present themselves honestly before God and seek His guidance and wisdom.
However, Jesus notices selfish and cheating behavior in the Temple. Jewish people could not use Roman currency in the temple so they had to exchange it for Jewish currency at the money changers tables. Our Lord sees the money changers are cheating the people. They do not belong there, so He quickly throws them all out.
Jesus is focused on making sure that only loving behaviors happen in the Temple of the Lord, as the Gospel affirms, “Zeal for my house consumes me!” He is straightforward about removing anything that is not of love.
What does not belong in your house …or your life? Is there anger, jealousy, suspicion, rivalry, or mistrust? Is there laziness, selfishness, or cheating? They do not belong in your life at all. You should be straightforward about removing them as well. That is what this Season of Lent is all about.
It may take time, and careful planning, but this is a good time to begin to make sure your life, or your family is a place where Jesus would be happy to visit.
What is not of love must go. What is of love must stay.
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Applying faith to real life is definitely your special charism. The money changer mentality seems to rob each of us of the Temple with in. The life of our very soul. God bless for bringing that home to us.
I am glad you liked the article!
You always have an interesting and thought provoking point of virw!
Thank you!
Thank you Father Dave. The Ten Commandments do start at home
and when we abide, we are happier.
I wanted to share a Lenten prayer. I don’t
remember the source, had it for years.
“Fast from judging others, bitterness, pessimism, suspicion, idle gossip and unrelenting pressures; and feast on gratitude, patience, forgiveness, optimism, truth and purposeful silence.”
Thanks again, enjoying the University and witnesssing the growth of your ingenuity of spreading God’s message. Blessings !
Great prayer! Thanks for sending it.
We look at the Commandments as not just laws to be memorized, but as guides for us
to live our lives the way God wanted us to live them. They can be summed up in one
word, “Love” God first…then our neighbor…
We know we need a house cleaning every once in a while to get rid of the the clutter
that we do not need. Maybe there are some areas in our lives that need refreshing too,
I love this saying of Jesus.
“Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”.
.
I love that saying of Jesus as well. Worthwhile memorizing!
We were talking about the Commandments this week in our bible study class with Dr. Paul Ford and he said the the author Chesterson said that the 10 Commandments are like a fence around a playground where God wants us to live by so we can be happy. Then that the Beatitudes are like the vertical ladder of a slide inside the playground and then the commandment are the horizontal part of the cross.
All about happiness and love!!
God Bless
Yes, Chesterson was a very wise person!
WOW Your reflection put it into place. I also reflect on the Torah and they are on the 10 commandments and the building of the place of worship. Everything had to be just right for the building. The finest gold, wood etc. I have heard others say how much we spend on the Churches and when you read the Old
Testament, God wants it to be a place of beauty and a place for real worship. You have a gift for making that happen. What you did with St. Paschals was very beautiful and drew you into worship. You took away the distractions and made it a house of prayer., I hope they appreciate it over there.
I love your reflection on marriage. The thing is that when people fall in LOVE it is like when some when people have that experience with the Holy Spirit But you can find that Love grows with making it through the hard times. Instead of fighting with each other fight the one who doesn’t want your marriage to last and each one needs to look at themselves to see what their part in it is. Speaking as a divorced Catholic who married saying that the Catholic Church wasn’t going to tell me who I can marry since he was already divorced. It was doomed from the beginning. Some of us have to learn the hard way.
I really learned a lot from watching a lady celebrating their 50th anniversary at St. Pascals and was renewing their wedding vows. I knew the woman and I know she had hard times but they mad it through those hard times and when they were saying their vows you could feel the love and commitment they had. It was beautiful.
I think I am on a tangent. Bye and thanks a million for your reflections. I really get a lot out of it.
Thank you for your heartfelt reflection. I think what you have written is great.
Great reflection, Father Dave. Even those of us who faithfully abide the Ten Commandments sometimes need reminders it’s time for a “Spring cleaning” and elimination of bad habits we often fall into. Lent, a time of atonement, helps us “detox” and purge our sins so we may be rendered pure and pleasing to God. I embrace this time of the liturgical year as I reflect on what I may give back both to God and my community.
Well said!
Dear Father Dave,
I apologize for the times I’m late in responding to your message. As always, you pull the “rules” effortlessly into our everyday lives and blend them into the fullness of human experience. Thank you.
I was also happy to read Sharon Fowler’s Lenten prayer, certainly one that can be adopted into our daily routine.
God bless you.
Kathleen
Yes, I agree it is a beautiful prayer!
The best motivation for Spring Cleaning!
Rejecting all that is not of love to make room for Love to remain always!
Bob and Rose Mary
Thank you. Beautiful!
Well said!