Exodus 20:1-17 / 1 Cor 1:22-25 / John 2:13-15
One of the unique features of the Catholic Church is that there are long benches, or, what is called, pews.
And along with the pews, there are kneelers, and usually the kneelers are padded.
Almost all Catholic Churches have pews with kneelers. Some kneelers are retractable, but ours are not.
The kneelers point to one unique expect of the Catholic church.
There are three postures of prayer. One is standing, and we stand in respect, we also stand when prayers are offered, and we stand for the gospel.
We sit to listen to the readings from the Word of God, and also to listen to the teachings in the homily.
And then there is the posture of kneeling, and here is where the kneelers come in.
Kneelers help us to get down to the kneeling posture and also to get up from it.
Kneeling is a profound act of reverence and worship. The fact is that we don't kneel casually anyway, nor do we kneel casually before anyone.
Kneeling before our parents is an act of filial piety. Kneeling in Church is an act of reverence, adoration and worship offered to God.
Furthermore, the Church is a holy place, the House of God, and it is only appropriate to kneel before God in prayer and worship.
It is with this understanding that we will know why Jesus did what He did in the Temple.
His actions were forceful, and anything or anyone at the other end of the whip would feel the sharpness of His anger.
And that was because the Temple was turned into a market place. People were buying, selling, bargaining, and engaged in business networking.
That is why Jesus said: Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father's house into a market.
The Temple, and the Church, is dedicated to worship and prayer.
The market is where marketing and business networking is done.
But the holy place can be subtly turned into a market place, and no one is saying anything about it, or just keeping quiet about it.
As it was in the gospel passage, nobody was saying anything about the marketing and the business networking that was going on in the Temple.
But just because everybody is doing it does not mean that it is right.
And just because nobody is doing it does not mean that it is wrong.
In the 1st reading, God tells us what is right and wrong. In the gospel, Jesus shows us what is right and wrong.
When we come to the Church, we come into the House of God, a holy place of worship and prayer.
Let us pay attention to how we are dressed, and what we say and do.
We come here to pray and to offer worship, and not to do marketing and business networking.
In the House of God, let us be respectful and reverent, as we offer a prayer and worship.
It is in the House of God that our prayers are heard and received.
It is in the House of God, we will receive an answer to our prayers.