Education in Faith

3rd Sunday of Lent - Year B

Jesus drives out the moneychangers from the Temple and says that he will destroy the temple and raise it up again.

Gospel Reflection

In this week’s Gospel, we read how Jesus overturned the tables of the merchants and the moneychangers in the Temple at Jerusalem. Worship at the Temple in Jerusalem included animal sacrifice, and merchants sold animals to worshipers. Moneychangers exchanged Roman coins, which bore the image of the Roman emperor, for the temple coins that were needed to pay the temple tax.

Jesus’ action at the Temple in Jerusalem is recorded in all four Gospels in the Bible and is often understood to be among the events that led to Jesus’ arrest and Crucifixion. The Gospel of John, however, places this event much earlier in Jesus’ public ministry than do the Synoptic Gospels. In John’s Gospel this event occurs at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, after his first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana.

Saint John tends to reflect greater tension and animosity between Jesus and the Jewish authorities than the Synoptic Gospels. Reflecting upon the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), John recalls Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple and uses that story to interpret this later event. After clearing the Temple of the merchants and the moneychangers, John’s Gospel tells us that the people asked for a sign of Jesus’ authority to do such an audacious act. In response, Jesus predicted his death and Resurrection. 

Throughout this Gospel, the language of signs is distinctive. Jesus’ miracles are called signs, and the people look to these signs for proof of his authority. Here we learn that the sign will be Jesus’ passion, death, and Resurrection.

During Lent we reflect upon the meaning of this sign for us and for our world. We might take this opportunity to consider the quality of our prayer and worship. In our prayers we seek to deepen our relationship with the person of Christ. In our worship with the community, we gather to experience anew the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus and its significance in our lives. Christ promises to be present with us when we gather for prayer.

Therefore, we are invited to reflect upon our worship of God. For Jesus and his Jewish friends, the Temple was an important, holy place where they gathered to worship God. Our Christian understanding of worship was transformed in light of Jesus’ Resurrection. In the Christian understanding, God is worshiped in a person, the person of Jesus Christ. As we read in this week’s Gospel, Jesus is himself the Temple that will be destroyed, but in three days God will raise him up again. Jesus warns us that the Temple - God the Father’s house - does not exist to serve as a marketplace or as a bank. It is a holy place with a holy purpose. Take a few moments to think about what happens in God’s house, your parish church. Think about the purpose for which this house of God exists. Then think about our domestic Church, your “Church of the home.” Is it serving the purpose for which it was created? Is it a holy place with a holy purpose?

As you gather as a family, talk about places and times when you have experienced God’s presence. After his Resurrection, Jesus’ disciples understood that Jesus was present with them as they gathered to pray and especially when they gathered to share a meal. Jesus teaches us that he is God’s presence with us. Thank God for Jesus’ presence with us, especially in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Pray together the Lord’s Prayer.

THANK YOU

Fr. Anil would like to thank Abigayle, Aden, Brandon, Jordan and Dhiya who made an awesome effort to participate in the Parish Altar Serving Training last weekend at St. Kevin’s Church.

We are so thankful to each one of you for your effort to be a part of this faith journey.

Sacramental News

GRADE 5/6 SOCIAL JUSTICE TEAM  MINI VINNIES

Once again a big thank you to the Mini Vinnies for giving up their lunchtime to collect and count the money donated to Project Compassion.

What a fantastic effort for the first week of Project Compassion!! 

The result for the end of the first week are:

1st        TERESA                    $26.35 

2nd       PATRICK                  $26.10 

3rd        MACKILLOP           $25.80

4th        BOSCO                      $8.05                                       

Thank you to everyone for their contributions and support! Well done Teresa for this week. Let’s see who is leading next week. 

This week’s video shares the story of Margret who is a teacher in the Solomon Islands: https://youtu.be/Zy8zZXEMt-U 

Families that would like a Project Compassion box for home are most welcome to come and collect one from the office. They will need to be returned before the end of this term.

Giuliana