WC 10/11 ANGER

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the

THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA

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GATHER

+In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What makes you angry?

Can people change?

How have you changed a bad situation into something good?

WORD

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John: Glory to you O Lord.

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the Temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.’

His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’

So the Jews said to him, ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

RESPONSE

In this Gospel reading, we see Jesus full of anger, tear apart the temple market. The temple was meant to be a place of worship, where people could come to make an offering to God. However, it had become a corrupt system that extorted people of money, meaning that the poor could not afford to worship. It would be like charging people a fortune to receive Holy Communion. In anger towards this unjust system, Jesus takes action.

NOVEMBER 9th is a memorial day for a building, THE LATERAN BASILICA. This year, the feast falls on a Sunday, and so it replaces our Sunday theme. This building was originally a fort built in 193 AD as a top Roman military headquarters. This is where the Roman Empire’s finest soldiers, Caesar’s personal guards, lived and trained. Around the year 300AD, it became the first Christian Cathedral and the new home of the Pope.

In 324 AD it was officially dedicated as a ‘House of God’ which is the memorial we celebrate on November 9th. What we also celebrate is God’s victory over the oppressive violence of military empire - something that we should continue to pray for especially as we remember Armistice Day later this week. This building, which was built as a shrine to violence, became and remains to this day, a temple of the Prince of Peace, Jesus.

We should learn from Jesus' example that it is appropriate to get angry about matters of injustice and take action against them. The Gospel transformed the whole Roman Empire, and it can transform us and the world around us if we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.

How does Jesus’ message challenge or comfort you?

MISSION

As we focus on our theme of remembrance during November, let us pray for those who live and die in war fighting for justice and peace. We also pray that we would all be peacemakers. Let us pray for an end to war and all violence and conflict on our streets, in our homes, and within our hearts.

COLLECT

Let us pray…

O God, who from living and chosen stones

prepare an eternal dwelling for your majesty,

increase in your Church the spirit of grace you have bestowed,

so that by new growth your faithful people

may build up the heavenly Jerusalem.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever. Amen.