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[__00__] How much is your home or apartment worth? What is its
value? You do not have tell me out loud.
How do we measure the value or worth of our homes
or apartments? Is it merely in MONEY – or there is there a deeper, inherent
value ? Jesus, in his teachings, urges us to see beyond the material value of
structures like the Temple, emphasizing the importance of meaning and inherent
worth.
This “inherent value” also extends
to the person as we profess the dignity of the person in all our ethical
choices about human life, the unborn child, the lives in danger in wartime, the
lives of civilians….
Because our lives have value, Jesus
also believes we can change and be changed for the better.
Jesus's actions in the Temple further emphasize the
importance of spiritual devotion over material concerns. He cleanses the
Temple, rejecting the commercialization of sacred space and reminding us that
the NAME, IMAGE and LIKENESS we are concerned about this the NAME, IMAGE and LIKENESS of God in each one us. This is the true
purpose of worship, to turn us toward the NAME, IMAGE and LIKENESS of God. In our modern context, we must also
guard against allowing financial interests to overshadow spiritual integrity
within our places of worship.
[__01__] I’d like
to share an experience of this, relating to my childhood experience of moving
into a new house, I recall the significance of three factors: place, price, and
property.
Place held importance as we desired
proximity to family, reflecting a deeper connection beyond mere convenience.
Price was crucial, requiring financial sacrifices
and negotiations, demonstrating the practical aspects of homeownership.
Additionally, the property itself held meaning,
symbolizing commitment and devotion, as evidenced by my grandmother's
insistence on preserving our family home. She said, famously, “never sell this
house.”
[__02__] Or if we connect this to the statement in the
Gospel: “zeal for your house will consume me.”
This was a
statement about Jesus's zeal, passion, devotion to the house.
A house in a
particular place, a house for which he will pay the price with his life.
And, this house –
this Temple – will be a permanent property to last forever through the Church.
[__05__] In the
Gospel today, Jesus demonstrates repeatedly his concern for the house of God,
which he is not going to flip or resell.
Do you recall the
famous episode and words spoken by the 12 year old year old Jesus when he goes
missing on the family caravan journey to Jerusalem? Ultimately, the 12 year old
Jesus is found in the temple and he displays wisdom and learning to the elder
Scribes and Scholars.
When his parents
asked him why he apparently ran away from them Jesus said, I didn't run away at
all. But I have returned to be in my house
and says:
“Why were you
looking? What's the Why were you looking for me all over the place? Did you not
know I would be in my father's house.” (Luke ____ )
[__06__] Are we not on the alert when “business” and
marketing excessively interrupt on our lives?
For
example, are you and I are not sensitive sales calls or sales pitches? We don't
want our own houses turned into a marketplace. In other words, we use caller ID
these days to filter out unnecessary sales calls to get our house in our lives
free of this distraction.
And are we not
vigilant in our regard to keep our houses from not becoming an AMZN
Marketplace?
[__07__] Jesus's
attitude is similar in response to what He's inviting us to do in our spiritual
lives in our Lenten journey, to follow the commandments. And I'd like to return
to the search for and care of the house as an example.
· PLACE
· PRICE
· PROPERTY
First, place, it can take time, months,
perhaps years to find the right location for a house and will we not sacrifice
other things to get the house or the home.
As an adult, I notice now that my parents after we moved into that
house, we didn't have a new car until 6 years after we moved into the house.
So, in a material
sense zeal for our house. The house was the priority.
What about on a
spiritual – sacramental journey level?
What things do you
and I need to put aside to keep the Sabbath holy, to come to church on Sunday,
to make Sunday a day for family and real friendship and intimacy with God?
[__08__] I applaud
you for your efforts for your witness your testimony, it matters for yourself,
for your neighbors, for your children to be in God's house. It also shows that
regardless of whether we live alone or with others, we have a connection to
each other through God's house, through our service to each other by the
commandments. Yes, we have many distractions in life. But when it comes to our
house, where we live, do we not lay down our lives and lay down the law in
terms of what we will accept in terms of noise or busyness or distraction. We
want peace in our lives in our houses.
[__09__] Jesus is
also inviting us to clean up the house of our lives.
How does this
“clean up” take shape for you and for me?
I myself will avoid or postpone clean up
if it means permanent lasting change. I myself enjoy cleaning up the kitchen,
doing the dishes, washing the counters because I have the satisfaction of
seeing the change on the surface.
But, real
repentance is a different type of clean up and it does not happen all at once.
The clean up Jesus
is asking for is connected to REPENTANCE, FORGIVNEESS, MERCY…
We learn lessons
of this first at home.
Here
is an example of “clean up” from that first house.
[__10__] About 2 years after moving into that house, I
stood impatiently at the back door waiting for someone to answer it. I was
about 8 years old. So impatient was I that I banged on the glass with my hand
that had a winter glove on it. Fortunately!
I also broke the
glass banging on the door. My parents were none too pleased. I had done
something more than just materially wrong…. But also spiritually wrong by
doubting so profoundly that I was actually abandoned at the back door.
But, I also took
it as a lesson to be more patient.
I am still
learning this lesson.
And, I also
realize that we learn four first lessons of repentance and confession at home.
While my parents
were displeased, I also recognized that I was loved. In grown up “terminology”,
I had inherent value.
We don't learn forgiveness first by going to a
priest or speaking to God in a private room. But we learn it at home where the
you is the mother and father function, or your mother and father functions
almost like the priests, learning, teaching you about forgiveness, teaching you
about unconditional love.
And that
forgiveness doesn't mean that we're approving of bad actions, but that we're
trying to grow. This forgiveness – at home - prepares you and me to go out
beyond our houses, into the neighborhood, into the school into the street with
the courage both to admit our faults when necessary, and the courage to forgive
others. We learn this at home. What in our own houses.
[__11__] These acts of contrition and forgiveness in
the home also prepare you and me to go to speak to God in confession, throughout
our lives. The advantage of the confessional is that it gives us a place to be
totally honest in a safe and secure place and to start or re-start the process
of conversion and recognize our inherent value to God and to each other.
In this regard,
your church and the your home both have inherent value and complement each
other. They are extensions of each other.
Our house is is a house of prayer and is meant to last forever.
[__end__]
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