As I prayerfully reflected upon John’s Gospel for today’s Holy Mass, I found myself struck by the first sentence, which tells us that Jesus traveled to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast of the Jews. But Jesus was not the only person to travel to Jerusalem that year. Countless other Jews in obedience to the law of God would also have traveled to the Holy City where they too would mark the great feast of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt by celebrating the goodness of God.
What really struck me in this sentence was the fact that countless numbers of Jewish males would have made this journey every year. Among them this year there would be some who would be traveling for the first time; maybe a young Jewish boy who for the first time was capable of making the long journey. There would have been others who would have made this journey for the 40th time. Others, there would have been no doubt for whom this journey would have been particularly hard because of the death of a loved one that took place since the last Passover feast.
I can just imagine the stories being told as these Jews traveled along the dusty roads together to the place where they would worship God. This journey would have afforded these pilgrims many opportunities to wonder about the great things would happen at the feast.
This yearly journey undertaken by the Jewish people was not only a celebration of that one time when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. It was also a celebration of the life of God that was in the midst of their human journey through life. For these Jews there was no separation between their life of faith and their everyday living. The mystery of God’s saving power could be experienced even as one walked along the dusty roads that lead to the holy city.
In a very similar way we Catholics undertake a yearly journey, which we call lent. This journey reaches its highpoint when we gather together to celebrate the Easter vigil, when as a community of faith we enter a Church building that is dark with candles that are lit from the Paschal candle that symbolizes the light of Christ in our midst; a light which banishes the darkness.
Just as the journey was different for each Jewish person so too will it be for us. Maybe this year is the 40th time some of us will have journeyed through lent. For some of us, this might be the first time in years that we have made this journey and are still questioning whether or not we are doing the right thing. For others, this might be the first time that we have really taken the season of lent seriously. And then there might be some among us who have experienced a lot of loss in their life since last years Lenten journey and are therefore making this journey with a heavy heart. Whatever our individual journey is this year, it is sacred to the Lord and He travels this road with us.
The truth presented to us in today’s Gospel is not only an invitation to repent for the times that we have allowed things to get in the way of our love for God which is symbolized by the money changers in the temple but it is also a challenge for us to recognize that we do not walk the road of life alone. Jesus is not only our journey’s end but he is also the joy in the journey. All of us gathered here are loved by Jesus deeply and despite the times when we are overcome by shame and the ugliness of our sins, God is calling us to over turn the tables of our doubt so that we may begin to buy and sell using the currency of his love and mercy.
In a few moments we will eat and drink the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, Jesus is inviting us to receive his love and to realize that though our journey’s are a mixture at times of grace and sin that we are still the temple in which he seeks to give worship to the One we call Our Father.
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