Have you ever had the experience of talking to someone who is behind you? You think you are having a really good conversation only to discover the other person has long since left the room or fallen asleep in the back seat. Not long ago I experienced this when trying to converse with a friend as we walked down a long busy hallway. What my friend did not realize was that someone had stepped between us while she continued speaking over her shoulder. “Let’s go into town tonight, find a good dancing place; maybe have a drink or two.” Imagine her surprise when a male voice responded: “I’d like that – Is it OK if I bring my wife?”
That’s similar to what is happening in this Gospel story. Folks are going through all kinds of activities directed to a God who has long stopped paying attention to all of their religious rituals, performances and pretenses. What was taking place in the Temple was all the outward activity with none of the genuine reality. The motives had become mixed: it was much more about what they could get from the Temple rather than responding in gratitude for what God has done for them and their ancestors.
The picture here is not a gentle, soft-spoken Jesus – not the smiling Jesus calmly confronting the religious establishment with authoritative teaching and divine wisdom. He does not ask the vendors to kindly remove their display tables outside the temple. Nor does he ask the buyers to hold on to their money and put it in the donation basket. Rather, he appears with His sleeves rolled up ready for a fight. He makes his own whip and chares through the heart of the religious establishment striking forcefully and aggressively at a religious system that has become skewed. Imagine it! Jesus is opening the cages of sheep, and doves with one hand, while, wielding a whip of cords in the other. He is driving animals and people alike into confusion and retreat.
The Jewish leaders ask Jesus for his credentials: what sign does he offer for taking this radical action? Their demand is amazing but it seems a fair question. They are checking what right He has to clear the Temple. Even among those who trusted Jesus, there is something that is not trustworthy. Jesus knew that even among those who believe, there is something fundamentally wonky. We are prone to get it wrong. Even among those who have true faith in Jesus, there is the possibility that we will let ritual replace reality.
Recall Jesus’ response to his critics in the temple? “You want proof that I have the right to condemn religious pretension. Let me give you the sign that I have the authority to condemn the Temple. You are going to kill me, and when you destroy me, I will raise it up again.” He is saying that resurrection is the ultimate authentication that he is who he says he is. The religious leaders were incredulous.
He’s telling them and us: You don’t need a building to represent My presence because I am the connecting point between you and God. In just a little more a month we will be celebrating Christmas and singing about Emmanuel, God with us. Authentic worship is not attached to Jerusalem or any other place. It is attached to Jesus. You / we won’t be making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But, we will be moving through Advent – a movement of the heart. Turn away, Jesus says, from all that detracts from Me and our relationship.
So, if the Gospel message is that we don’t need a building to find and worship God, why are we celebrating the dedication a basilica today? Parishes commemorate their founding dates but that’s usually a local celebration. Why does the dedication of a building in a faraway city supersede the 32nd Sunday liturgy? This church, the Lateran Basilica, not St. Peter’s, is a diocesan cathedral, the pope’s church, in his role as bishop of Rome. It was built in the 4th century on donated land. The structure has suffered fire, earthquake and ravages of war. The present structure was commissioned 1200 years later, in 1646. Beneath its high altar rests the remains of a small wooden table, on which according to tradition, St. Peter celebrated Mass. The building may have been repaired and its role changed since the fourth century, but Jesus Christ remains its cornerstone. This is our mother church, the spiritual home of the people who are the church.
Shortly before his death, Pope Francis give us insight into his concept of Church:
“I would like a more missionary church, not so much a tranquil church, but a beautiful church that goes forward in joy.” At the opening of the Synod on the Family Pope Francis made it clear no question would be out of place, Discussion was not to be censored; no topics or questions were to be off the table. He wanted full, robust debate. Then, in his closing remarks at the Synod he challenged the bishops with homework: “We still have one year to mature, to find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges to confront; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate.”
Our gospel is not a bedtime pretend story about some long-ago hypocritical religious leaders. It’s really our story too. Our covenant relationship with Jesus, with God is not just about becoming a better version of ourselves through self-improvement. It’s not about following a set of rules, reading the words of someone else’s prayers, being on our knees or sitting down, genuflecting or bowing. It’s about becoming the best we can be – living to our full potential – not putting ourselves down in false humility or denying God’s free gifts to us.
A very real question is whether we believe that the resurrection fact or fiction? Do we truly believe the sign that Jesus gives us, that He rose after three days buried in the earth? If you believe He did, then we need to pay attention, because this is no ordinary man. Let us, pray, then THAT our community, that every community of faith gathering to worship, may go forth from church buildings into their everyday lives to share their faith and resources with those in need.
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
