LENT IS A TIME OF SPIRITUAL CLEANSING

Homily for the Third Sunday in Lent, Year B

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Scripture Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25

The Lenten Season is a forty-day journey. On this journey, Jesus is our anchor and compass. On the first Sunday of Lent, we journeyed with Jesus to the wilderness, the place of encounter and spiritual testing, for us to confront the different beasts in our lives - shortcomings, addictions, vulnerabilities, weaknesses, temptations, and blind spots. On the second Sunday of Lent, Jesus took us on a journey to the Mountain, the place of divine presence and encounter with God, for us to listen to the voice of God and be transformed through our obedience to the Word of God. On this third Sunday of Lent, our Lenten journey with Jesus takes us to yet another location. This time around, Jesus takes us to the temple.

In the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, the temple was the central location for Israel’s worship and sacrificial system. It represented the means through which humanity can approach God and seek reconciliation (Psalm 96:8). The temple served as the physical dwelling place of God’s presence among his people (1 Kings 8:10-11) as well as the sacred space set apart for worship and communion with the divine (Psalm 27:4). In the New Testament, the temple became a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, who embodies God’s presence among humanity and serves as the ultimate mediator between God and humanity through his sacrificial death and resurrection (John 2:19-21). From St. Paul, we see the temple as the metaphorical representation of the body of believers, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and a locus of worship and spiritual sacrifice (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Today’s gospel passage presents the account of Jesus cleansing the temple (John 2:13-25). The temple in Jerusalem was meant to be a holy place, dedicated to the worship and reverence of God. However, when Jesus went up to Jerusalem just before the Jewish Passover, he encountered a scene of exploitation and greed, as merchants and money-changers had turned the temple into a marketplace, defiling its sacred purpose. Therefore, making a whip out of some cord, Jesus drove them all out of the Temple… (John 2:13-14). He took this action because the Temple, his Father’s house had been turned into a place of noise and transaction.

Dear friend, in our lives, we may find that we have allowed worldly desires, distractions, and impurities to enter into our bodies, which are meant to be temples of the Holy Spirit. As such, just as Jesus took decisive action to cleanse the temple, overturning the tables of the money-changers and driving out those who were exploiting its sanctity, during the season of Lent, we too are called to take decisive action to cleanse our own spiritual temples, our bodies. This requires repentance, self-examination, and a willingness to rid ourselves of anything that defiles our bodies and souls.

Today, we are called to examine our hearts and acknowledge the ways in which we have turned our bodies into marketplaces. We may have prioritized worldly pleasures and comforts over spiritual growth and integrity. Like the money-changers, we may have allowed greed, selfishness, and impurity to take residence within us, desecrating and profaning the sacredness of our temple. Lent offers us a sacred opportunity to renew our commitment to holiness and spiritual renewal. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we can purify our hearts, minds, and bodies, making them worthy dwelling places for the Holy Spirit. Let us use this season to cast out the distractions and impurities that hinder our relationship with God, and to rededicate ourselves to lives of virtue, righteousness, and love. Let us also seize this moment to restore our spiritual temples to its original holiness and purpose which as St. Paul tells us, “the body is meant to glorify God” (1 Corinthians 6:20). Amen.