Third Sunday of Lent (Year B)

Today, we read of Jesus' cleansing the Temple in the gospel of John. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus visited Jerusalem only once on his last days, John's Gospel has Jesus visiting Jerusalem three times. The first time Jesus visited Jerusalem, he cleansed the Temple, chasing out the merchants (John 2:13-25). That probably explains why in the Gospel of Mark, the Jewish authority was hostile to Jesus early in his public ministry (Mark 3:1-6). Mark collected a series of 5 conflicts between Jesus and the Jewish authority. These conflicts centred around the difference in attitudes towards observing the Jewish customs, especially the Sabbath, accumulating to Jesus' healing of a man with a withered hand on Sabbath. Since the Synoptic Gospels have Jesus' visiting Jerusalem once on his last days, they postpone the cleansing of the Temple until the latter part of the gospels.
Jesus described the Temple as his Father's house when Mary and Joseph found him sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions (Luke 2:49). Here, in John, Jesus told those who sold pigeons not to make his Father's house a house of trade (John 2:16). These words reminded his disciples of Psalm 69. Fr. Kwan, our parish priest, celebrated 11 a.m. mass with us this morning. He focussed on this theme of Father's house.
The Church is the house of God. It is not just a building. It is a place for us to come close to God, to meet our Father and each other. He asked how many of us felt the urge on Fridays to come to encounter God on Sundays. The Church has the Ten Commandments and Four Precepts to guide our life. These rules and regulations help us lead a life pleasing to God. Going to Church on Sundays is one of the Four Precepts. It is not a matter of avoiding sins. It is a matter of building up a loving relationship with God, a zeal that consumes us.
His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for thy house will consume me." (John 2:17)
To be true disciples of Jesus, let us remember to love the Church with as much zeal as Jesus.
When the Jewish authority challenged Jesus, asking him for a miracle to show where his authority (to cleanse the Temple) came from, Jesus told them, in an enigma, to destroy the Temple and he would raise it up again in three days. Of course, the Jewish authority would dismiss this as a farce. It took Herod the Great 46 years to extend and embellish the Temple. Destroy it? You must be joking, Jesus! What if you fail to raise it up again? Do you think you would get away with this mess you have done? No. You shall pay for what you have done.
The disciples had a different understanding of Jesus' words.
But he spoke of the temple of his body.
When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken (John 2:21-22).
Fr. Kwan then dwelt on St. Paul's theme on the sanctity of our body. The Church is not simply a meeting place for believers to worship God. Our bodies are also churches that house God, the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our bodies are also holy. They are holy places where the Holy Spirit shall dwell. Therefore, we should keep our mind clean and holy. In particular, he urged parents to watch over what materials their children browse on the Internet. Nowadays, too much obscene information is too easily available on the Internet to poison the mind of teenagers. Discuss candidly with the kids to help them sort out what is good and what is bad for them. This is responsible parenthood.

My God, I thank You for allowing me to work with these bunch of young people to sing praises to You in Your house. May our singing elevate the spirit of the congregation to come close to You. May our souls be nourished and in this season of Lent, turn to You for our salvation. Amen.

Appendix:
Zeal for thy house will consume me ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου καταφάγεταί με (John 2:17b).
ὅτι ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου κατέφαγέν με (Psalm 68:10a LXX, 69:10a MT)