Marketplace or Church?

Today's Gospel is not for the faint of heart. There's a lot there that someone could cover. What strikes me though, is Jesus's reaction to the moneychangers and people selling sacrificial animals in the temple. He does not simply chide them with strong words and parables as with the Pharisees. He makes a whip out of chords and drives them out of the temple area, overturns tables, and tells them to stop making His Father's House a marketplace. I don't think said is the proper verb here, I think it's more like yelled or screamed. 

Jesus is very passionate and consumed with zeal for His Father's house. He has a good reason. The Temple was not simply a synagogue; it was central to ancient Jewish worship. The Jews of Jesus's time believed that God dwelled in the Temple. When they offered sacrifices in the Temple, they were sacrificing directly to God Himself. In other words, the moneychangers and salesmen were acting right in God's face. They were taking advantage of the fact that God was there and using Him as a marketing tool. They had no reverence for His house.

Modern churches are no different. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. When the host is consecrated, it is no longer merely bread, but Jesus Himself. When it is stored in a tabernacle, Jesus is present in that place, making every single Catholic Church around the world is just like the Temple in Jerusalem. God dwells there in the Eucharist. It is a holy place, And a place that deserves respect.

Yet, how many times do we use church as a marketing tool? How many times doing our professional lives expect our fellow parishioners to patronize our businesses, visit our offices, or buy our products simply because we go to church together? Do we attach strings to our money? Do we like to flaunt our wealth? Do we let our egos get involved in our ministry, and make it more about ourselves than about God? These are things we're all guilty of at one point, whether we admit it are not.

Having a profitable business is not a bad thing. Having desires for your community the Church is not necessarily a bad thing. Being rich well off is not a bad thing. Being confident in your ministry and taking charge is not a bad thing. Yet, these things can become bad if we view them as things we do for God, and not the grateful response to all the wonderful things He's given us. They can become bad if we use them to gain power, prestige, and to rule over others. 

Our churches give us all so much. They give us Christ and hope for everlasting life. They give us healing and mercy. They are the places where we are baptized, married, and buried. They give us a community of friends and family. Whatever we do for them should just be out of gratitude and to preserve them for future generations to come and experience the same joys that we have. Let church be church, and don't make Jesus's house a marketplace.