They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area. Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written:

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples? But you have made it a den of thieves.”

One can only imagine Jesus in a furious rage, turning tables upside down and chasing people out of the temple of Jerusalem. He then delivers a shocking accusation - that the once holy temple of prayer has been desecrated by the presence of thieves.

In today’s context, who are these thieves? It is none other than us. We, who enter the house of God for the holy mass in a state of sin. We are thieves precisely because of our selfish nature which seeks to steal everything for ourselves - money, fame, recognition, success, and ultimately happiness. We the miserable thieves of the world enter the house of prayer for all peoples. And that is the irony of things, we are the people the house of prayer is established for, and at the very same time we are the unworthy thieves who desecrate the place.

And what is Jesus’ response to that? It is not one of mere forgiveness, but that of redemptive transformation. Yes, no doubt he forgives us for our sins, paid in full by His blood, and this allows us to be in His holy presence despite our sinful state. But He is not content in stopping there.

Instead, He comes to overturn the tables and the seats in our lives, through the Eucharist. It is in receiving Him in which He transforms us, ridding us of our old complacent ways (we’ve been comfortable with sitting for far too long) and turning our lives around so that we face Him again. Each time we receive Him, He drives out the inner fears and anxieties that have plagued and consumed us. And finally, His holy presence in our bodies makes each of us sanctuaries, and prevents the entry of anything that is not from Him. It is then we are truly, Temples of the Holy Spirit.

Just my take on today’s Gospel, inspired by the sharings at today’s CSS Law CG. Have a blessed weekend (: