Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 7, 2021
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
many began to believe in his name
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.
In preparation for the sacrament of confirmation, I learned the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The one that was most challenging and confusing for me at that time was “fear and awe of the Lord.” This is sometimes known as simply, “awe of the Lord.” Perhaps this is a bit more accurate. If fear is perceived as only a negative emotion, then God does not want our fear. Awe is a feeling that conveys both a sense of God’s power and transcendence yet in a way that makes us want to draw close to God, not pull away.
Still, there is a place for understanding that God is just and we fall under the judgement of God’s infinite justice. God’s justice is not about making us feel good about ourselves. It is about forcing us to face our failings and change.
Today’s reading encapsulates the idea of “fear and awe of the Lord” for me. Jesus finds people selling goods in the temple and he drives them out. The account doesn’t try to hide Jesus’ righteous anger. He flips tables. He makes a “whip of cords” and chases the money changers from the temple. It sounds terrifying! But it reminds me that God’s justice can be fearsome for those who ignore his commands.
There is both fear and awe in this reading. But only those who are willing to listen to Jesus are the ones who are drawn closer to Jesus rather than be frightened away.
The reading tells us that his disciples remembered the line from Scripture, “zeal for your house will consume me,” after witnessing Jesus’ actions. Can our fear and awe of God lead us to zealous action for God’s Church?
Prayer
Father, just as your Son cleaned the temple from all that hindered worship of you, so he wishes to cleanse us, each a temple of the Holy Spirit, from all that keeps us from offering you full-hearted praise and thanksgiving. Grant us the grace and trust to allow Jesus to undertake this cleansing within us. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Saints Felicity and Perpetua were famous martyrs from the early Church—they are the saints who appear the most on ancient lists of saints and calendars for veneration. In fact, their story was read publicly in the churches of North Africa, and the great St. Augustine himself had to clarify for his people that these accounts were not of the same stature as Scripture, which indicates just how important people found their story.
Carthage in 203 was a Roman city and enforced the persecution of Christians who failed to worship the image of the emperor, which was a hallmark of the imperial religion. Five catechumens were arrested, and among them were a slave, Felicity, who was pregnant, and Perpetua, who was 22 years old, wife of a well-to-do citizen, and mother of a young child herself. The catechist who had taught these people who were seeking baptism was not arrested but turned himself in because he did not want them to suffer alone.
The Christians were tried and gave witness to their faith by refusing to honor the Roman gods. They were all condemned to execution, except for Felicity—Roman law prevented the execution of any woman who was pregnant. Felicity, however, wanted to join her fellow Christians with the witness of her life and gave birth in prison during her eighth month. The child survived and was adopted by the Christian community of the city.
Perpetua’s child was still nursing at the time of her arrest, and she received permission to have him join her in prison. He weaned before her execution and was raised by her family.
The group was taken to a stadium and killed by wild beasts in front of soldiers on a Roman holiday. Felicity and Perpetua faced a bull, who wounded them but did not kill them. The crowd called for their death by sword, and they exchanged a sign of peace before being killed.
The relics of these two martyrs rest in the reliquary chapel and their story and images are used by high school students who come to campus for a summer conference with the Notre Dame Vision program.
Sts. Felicity and Perpetua, the mothers who faced your martyrdom with courage that inspired faith in others—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Sts. Felicity and Perpetua is an illustration by Julie Lonneman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of her art. Used with permission.