During World War II, the prefect apostolic of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, William Finnemann, SVD, courageously stood up against the Japanese officers who wanted to convert a nun’s convent in Calapan into a house for “japayukis” or comfort women. For this the bishop paid a dear price. The Japanese soldiers arrested and loaded him on a military boat, and threw him overboard in the deep waters between Calapan and Batangas. With hands and feet tied and dragged down by big stones, the bishop had no way of surviving. (A Hero Deserving a Halo authored by Fr. Peter Michael, SVD)
Today our Gospel tells us that Jesus went up to Jerusalem. When he was in the temple there he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. He made a whip of cords and he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. Jesus was angry. But His anger was justified. Why? It was because the Temple was desecrated. The Temple is the house of God on earth. It is where man and God should meet. It is a place where man prays and experiences the presence of God in the world. Yet, many forgot about this. They saw the chance to make some profits out of the many people who would pray and offer gifts to God in the Temple. There is nothing wrong in doing business. But such business must not encroach in the activities of the Temple to the extent that it destroys the solemnity of the place. Jesus himself said, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade." People went to the Temple with divided interest. They supposed to be there to worship God but they were also distracted by the worldly or economic affairs. They brought the noise of the world while they prayed in the Temple. So, Jesus had to cleanse the place. Jesus had to restore the sacredness of the Temple making it a place of meeting point between God and man. Jesus had to show how angry he was to remind people that the Temple deserved great respect. People must be disposed to offer themselves to God and no other offering is greater than oneself before God.
My dear friends, today we are reminded that the church is a place for us to talk to God. Though we can pray anytime and anywhere, the church is consecrated, set apart from other places and is dedicated for spiritual purposes. The church is sacred not because we declared it to be sacred. It is sacred because it is the house of God on earth. It is the presence of Jesus that makes the place sacred. However, there are many Catholics who are ignorant of this. They go to the church sometimes to see their dates. They go to the church to sleep or rest. They do not know that Jesus is present at the tabernacle. If they are aware of this, then they would rather spend more time in silence and prayer. People who are aware of God’s presence in the church stay in the church to spend more time in prayer. Even after the mass, there are still some who would stay and make their personal prayer. Catholics who experience the presence of God in the church find serenity and peace. Catholics thereof are encouraged to observe silence and preserve the solemnity in the church. The best offering one can bring before the altar of God is himself/herself –and such oblation meets the demand of the sacredness of the place which we call the church.
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