By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
Isaiah 42: 1-7; John 12: 1-11
This is the day that the conflict between the Jews and Jesus erupted to its peak. Jesus enters the Temple and begins to cleanse it! The zeal for his Father’s House set him afire, and his disciples were obviously enthused about it.
Against the background of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem the previous day, the disciples thought it was the beginning of some kind of a revival of Israel. They never imagined that would be the beginning of the end of Jesus’ life! Jesus himself would soon become a victim of the evil social order, that Jesus picks the whip against today.
The task entrusted to us today is to Cleanse… as Jesus cleanses the temple!
We are called to cleanse our lives, cleanse our social lives of the unjust order, cleanse our family life of unholy priorities, cleanse our personal lives of sordid impurities. Cleansing is saying ‘yes’ to the Lord, allowing the Lord to have control over us, choosing to be transformed and built once more into the Holy Dwelling Place of God!
The readings point to us the thickening plot, where the Jews intensely turn against Jesus and everything that is connected to Jesus. They find Jesus as challenging their very existence and they cannot wait to get rid of him. But the Beloved Son of God is upto his duty, come what may!
The judging looks of the rest of the guests, the personality branding of the society, the hypocritical priorities of the so-called righteous, the unspiritual values of the self proclaimed spiritual leaders…these are what Jesus speaks against in the Gospel and appreciates the humble disposition, profound love, sensitive demeanour and childlike submission of the woman, whom everyone else considered and condemned as a sinner and an untouchable.
Cleanse, the Lord calls us today… cleanse yourself of all your judging attitudes, prejudiced outlooks and prefabricated reactions to events in life: be sincere, loving and non judgemental, you will be declared by the Lord as, the Lord’s beloved!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him.