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.