Our Old Testament readings for the past two Sundays have focused on the covenants God first made with Noah and then with Abraham. Today we have the story of another covenant, a covenant given to Moses and passed on to all of us in the Ten Commandments. These Commandments define how we should conduct our relationship with God (Commandments 1-4) and our relationships with each other (Commandments 5-10). The Ten Commandments are summed up by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40; “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
Given the importance Jesus placed on God’s Commandments, today’s Gospel from John 2:13-25, should come as no surprise to us. Jesus gets angry when he encounters people desecrating the Temple, God’s House. The merchants and money changers were abusing their relationship with God by treating God’s House like a common market place and abusing their relationships with the people who came to God’s house for worship through extortion. Their lack of reverence for God and lack of respect for the people of God violated the two great Commandments and the teaching of all the prophets and Jesus.
A good Lenten exercise for this week could be to reflect on the Ten Commandments and our relationship with God and our relationships with other people. Are we irreverent towards God? Do we recognize the sacredness of God’s house? Are we respectful of other people? Do we treat others the way we want to be treated? Today’s Responsorial Psalm from Psalm 19:8-10, reminds us of how remarkable God’s Commandments are: “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The statutes of the LORD are true, all of them just….”
Holy God, we often turn our hearts
into houses of pride and greed
rather than into homes of love and goodness
where you can feel at home.
Destroy the temple of sin in us,
drive away all sin from our hearts,
and make us living stones of a community
in which can live and reign
your Son Jesus Christ,
our Lord for ever and ever.
Amen.
