Tag Archive for: Cleansing

Clearing the Inner Temple

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Clearing the Inner Temple

The story of Jesus turning over the tables and clearing the temple of the merchants and moneylenders is an exciting movement in the Gospels. It has all the elements for good theatrics and those theatrics have made it a popular moment in Jesus-flicks. Jesus’ outburst in the Temple has also justified fits of anger, with simple philosophical explanations that even Jesus, the Prince of Peace, could not curtail his anger and so, there are times when we too are justified to do likewise. When? Well, when a rude driver cuts me off on the freeway, when my children disobey me, when a friend says something that offends me, and so on.

In a sense, life is a theater and we see ourselves moving up and down with the frames of the film (yes, even in the digital age, we view life as an analog progression of images moving along a timeline.

Jesus had the moral authority to call out what does not belong in the temple. His call to us is “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7)

As Love Incarnate, as the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus can make the call to clear the house of God of all that does not belong there. However, for us, we are called to clean the first house of God, namely ourselves. In St. Paul’s words, “You are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

We pray, Lord, You who fashioned my soul as a holy dwelling, a living temple shaped by Your hands — enter now into the hidden rooms of my heart. Shine Your light where shadows still linger. Sweep away the dust of old fears, the cobwebs of resentment, the idols I have built from comfort, pride, or desire. Cleanse what has grown stale, heal what has been wounded, restore what has been neglected. Amen.

 

Guards Down

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Guards Down

The story of the Rich Fool, a parable offered by Jesus and recorded in Luke chapter 12, has always intrigued me because the fool can be any one of us. As Jesus says, the fool in the story is defined as anyone who “stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” My interest in this story (and others like it) stems from the fact that we, the listener of the story – the audience members – exclude ourselves from the punch line category. In this case, we look at others as fools, rather than understanding that the story is intended to warn the fool in all of us.

One of the exercises that is most prominent during the Lenten season which we only recently completed, is that of the practice of introspection. To make self-examination work, we need to put down our guards. When reading the stories or parables of Jesus confronting others, remember Jesus has the moral authority to call out others. Ours is not to point to others and call them the fools, rather, for us place ourselves in the place of the person who builds his wealth in earthy material wealth and abandon the pursuit of higher godly reconciliation, by coming to terms with our mortality, rejecting the material trappings of the world, reaching out to those in need and leaving judgement only to God.

Yes, lowering our guards, allows for God’s free flowing energy to pass through unhindered.

We pray, Lord of Light and Truth, You who breathe life into every soul and call us toward what is eternal — open my heart to grow in Your wisdom. Teach me to desire what cannot be bought, to hunger for compassion more than comfort, to seek depth over display, and to measure my life not by possessions but by the love I offer and the love I receive. Amen.

Thorough Cleansing

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Cleansed

During this week, the Scriptural reading given to us by the Church follows the first miracle – the water into wine – which we encountered yesterday. John 2:12-22, shares the story of Jesus cleaning the temple.

Jesus found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 

In the synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke – a story similar to this appears as Jesus makes his final entry into Jerusalem, the day traditionally referred to as Palm Sunday. In the Gospel of John, we read the story at the beginning of his ministry. Building on the topic of “Maturity of Faith” from yesterday’s Armodoxy lesson, we may assume that the cleansing of the temple was not a singular event.

The Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus, is distributed and received every week. The repetitive nature of the Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion is an expression of Jesus coming into our lives, not only once, but always there to remove and cleanse all that does not belong in the sanctity of our lives.

The Gospel continues, So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. “Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

The Cleansing of the Temple is a scene right out of the movies. It speaks to people on many levels. It is the man-of-principle going up against the corporate machine. It is the individual versus the institution. Most importantly, it is Jesus Christ entering our temple, our lives. Once there, he is ready to clean house, to remove the hatred, the laziness, the envy and jealousy that are doing business there. It is up to us, as is the case in the story, whether we argue with him, stop him from doing so, or open ourselves to the cleansing he provides.

Let us pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, you enter the Temple in Jerusalem to clean out all who do not belong there. Come into the holiness of my temple and wash me thoroughly from my sin. Rid my life of pride, envy, anger, laziness, gluttony, lust and covetousness, and should they return may your Holy Body and Blood be forever cleansing me, into your Kingdom. Amen.”

Holy Week – Palm Sunday

/0 Comments/in , ,

Holy Week Day #2 – Cleansing the Temple – The players are in place as the Passion Play begins. The invitation is extended to stand in the Procession to Jerusalem and to open the portals to our hearts, as Jesus cleanses the temple and the remnants of evil within us.
Song: “In the Moneylender’s Temple” by Ian Anderson and “Patz Mez Der” by Lucine Zakarian. Photo: Palm Sunday at Youth Ministry Center, Glendale 2005
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for ePostle.net

Direct Link for Download

Cleansing

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Cleansing

During this week, the Scriptural reading given to us by the Church follows the first miracle – the water into wine – which we encountered yesterday. John 2:12-22, shares the story of Jesus cleaning the temple.

Jesus found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 

In the synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke – a story similar to this appears as Jesus makes his final entry into Jerusalem, the day traditionally referred to as Palm Sunday. In the Gospel of John, we read the story at the beginning of his ministry. Building on the topic of “Maturity of Faith” from yesterday’s Armodoxy lesson, we may assume that the cleansing of the temple was not a singular event.

The Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus, is distributed and received every week. The repetitive nature of the Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion is an expression of Jesus coming into our lives, not only once, but always there to remove and cleanse all that does not belong in the sanctity of our lives.

The Gospel continues, So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. “Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

The Cleansing of the Temple is a scene right out of the movies. It speaks to people on many levels. It is the man-of-principle going up against the corporate machine. It is the individual versus the institution. Most importantly, it is Jesus Christ entering our temple, our lives. Once there, he is ready to clean house, to remove the hatred, the laziness, the envy and jealousy that are doing business there. It is up to us, as is the case in the story, whether we argue with him, stop him from doing so, or open ourselves to the cleansing he provides.

Let us pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, you enter the Temple in Jerusalem to clean out all who do not belong there. Come into the holiness of my temple and wash me thoroughly from my sin. Rid my life of pride, envy, anger, laziness, gluttony, lust and covetousness, and should they return may your Holy Body and Blood be forever cleansing me, into your Kingdom. Amen.”