The following is Bishop Caggiano’s homily for the third Sunday of Lent, given at St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport.
Apart from the events of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection, it would seem to me that today in the gospel, we hear what one would consider the most dramatic moment in the Lord’s ministry. Dramatic insofar as it was shocking to people, this gentle, merciful rabbi preacher suddenly shows a righteous anger and throws all of these money changers and merchants out of the temple area. Could you imagine where people were taken aback? And it was a righteous anger because the Lord had committed Himself to purify the temple of His Father. And so He did and left us a tremendous challenge.
Because allow me to ask you a question, my friends. What is it that the Lord is actually purifying for? The answer may surprise us, for we should not fall into the mistake of thinking that these merchants and money changers appeared in the temple and made it a form of Macy’s on their own. In fact, they were doing exactly what was asked of them. It was required in the law.
What was required? That if you were going to sacrifice an animal, it was to be purchased already prepared for the sacrifice. You couldn’t go to the supermarket and buy it. You bought it in the temple area. And notice that they sold doves, because for the poor, who could not afford a lamb or a goat, they offered a dove in its place.
So, too, for the money, there would be money offerings in the temple, in the sacrifice offered by the high priest. But the money of Caesar, the Daenerys, was considered impure. It could not be offered in the sacrifice of the temple. And so money exchange. They would take the money of the Roman Empire and exchange it for the money that was used in the temple so that people could offer sacrifice.
So, my friends, these were necessary services. These were offered for God’s people. The temple couldn’t function without them. So then the question is, why did Jesus throw them out? And this, my friends, is the challenge.
It was not because the money changers and temple and the merchants, it wasn’t what they were doing. It was rather why they were doing it, for their intentions had nothing to do with the worship. They were asked to assist. They were there for their own self aggrandizement, their own greed, their own profit for themselves. And even though they were doing the right thing, they were doing it for the wrong reason.
And that is why they got tossed out.
And that’s the challenge, because you and I, my friends, come here each Sunday to ask the grace of the Holy Spirit to receive the body and blood, soul and divinity of the Lord Jesus Himself, so that we might do good that we might do what’s asked of us. If I could put it this way, we heard in the first reading from Exodus, the Ten Commandments. Those are the God rails of life, to live what the Lord commands us. And that is good and necessary. But it is not enough for me.
For you, it is not just doing what is expected or doing what is right or doing what is good, but to do it for the right reasons. In other words, to purify our intentions so that they are in the mind of God. Now, let’s be honest. Every single one of us in this church is a sinner, myself included. No one here has pure, perfect intentions in the things we do, even when we do good.
That’s the struggle of discipleship. It’s to be able to recognize when our intentions are mixed and spend time in reflection and spiritual discipline so that our intentions become ever more pure, ever more following the spirit that the Lord asks of us to live. So, for example, boys and girls, for those of you who want to respect and honor your mother and father, it’s not enough simply to do it because you don’t want to get in trouble. But it’s really to be able to do it because it’s a way of showing your parents your gratitude and your love. As God does for us, so, too, for you and I, who are a bit older.
My friends, today is the Lord’s day of resurrection. It is the christian version of the Sabbath. We keep it holy. How we come to mass. Wonderful.
Does that fulfill the intent of the law? Or does it not mean that the entire day should be held sacred? Time for prayer and reflection, to do what we do not ordinarily do, the other six days of the week. And to make everything on this day mindful of the honor, worship, and glory that is due to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who makes this day, you, me, and all creation destined for holiness. And I can go on and on.
Allow me to offer you a suggestion. We are in the third week of Lent, and therefore, our spiritual homework this week is to look not only at the things we are doing good, not only admitting the things we have done wrong or sinful, but perhaps we can add one more piece to this. And that is when we look at our lives each day. Perhaps before you go to bed and examine all the things you have done, could we please ask ourselves, when we look back on the things we have done good. Why did I do them?
Because we will find even in doing good, we have work to do. Because the last thing, my friends, we want to do and be. The last position you and I ever want to be is to have to face the righteous anger of God.
