Vocation Meditation -
Dedication of St. John Lateran

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, with the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace."

His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The people then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

The Jewish Passover was the greatest of all the Jewish feasts. For the Jews, the Temple was everyone's destination as center of worship. During these days, the selling of animals, the charging of tax, and the money changing took over the Temple courts and corridors. As business dominated worship and prayer along these halls, reverence and the true function of God's house were forgotten. Jesus' anger escalated and His words revealed once more His consistent claim as the Son who exacts reverence in His Father's house. The cleansing of the Temple was also Jesus' act as the promised Messiah of God. He has come to cleanse the worship of all men and women. He put an end to all the business of animal sacrifices offered by human hands. He showed that no sacrifice of any animal can ever put a person right with God. He alone, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of Sacrifice, can take away the sins of the world, and hence, give us eternal life. The 'destruction of the Temple and raising it up in three days' was Jesus' prophecy of His future days. By His life, death and rising to new life, He brought us back to God, so that we can rebuild our lives in Him.

Vocation Challenge:
My vocation is a constant call to worship God with reverence, wonder and awe.
Can I make the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist a regular experience of Jesus' cleansing and rebuilding of my spiritual life?

For the full Gospel reading for this Sunday, visit the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops site.

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