A number of years ago, when the Communists invaded China, they imprisoned a certain priest inside his rectory. After locking him up, the soldiers proceeded to desecrate his church which included throwing the thirty-two consecrated hosts contained in the ciborium onto the ground. Over the course of the next thirty-two days, the priest noticed a young girl sneak into the church each day, pray a holy hour, and consume one of the scattered hosts with her tongue. After the little lady received the last host, a soldier discovered her presence and killed her on the spot. Tradition likes to think of this as the story of Little Li.
As we ponder her love, we might also turn to today’s readings where we will notice Christ beckoning us to a similar sort of reverence akin to Li’s. In the Gospel, Jesus enters the temple and finds his fellow Jewish brothers profaning it. “He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables” (NABRE, John 2:14-15).
It is not often that Scripture spells out Jesus’ wrath, so why here? Or at least, why is Jesus swinging around a whip? Someone is going to get hurt, Lord! Let us shift our attention to Our Lord’s words and we might find a few clues. “And to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace’” (John 2:16).
Sacred Space
In his action and words here, Christ wants to remind us of how sacred the temple is. Jesus knows that, in time, the new temple will be a place where God’s very Flesh dwells. For many, if not all of us, this truth is an everyday reality. But if we look at His audience in the Gospel, it was His fellow Jews — believers who must have known the sacredness of that holy place — who were profaning the temple. I think this Gospel passage is giving us a chance to revisit our love for Him when we stand in His Real Presence.
We might ponder a few questions. How do we dress? Do we greet Our Lord with a profound bow or genuflection when we enter His Presence? What about our conversation when others are trying to pray? Do we add or take away from that silence which is the only true rest for men’s hearts? Do we recognize that this place houses the same Person Who is the King of Kings and will come upon the world on a cloud of heaven, full of all his glory (Matt. 24:30)? When we pass nearby a church with His Presence, may we shout out to Him, “Hello, Lord! It’s me on my way to . . .”
What if every time we entered His Presence, we would say, “I love you, Lord Jesus, thank you angels for guarding Him.”
If that is all too much, consider at least the 15 minutes He spends in your body and soul at each Holy Communion. Do we praise Him there and hold Him close?
Young Martyr
As we finish here, let us remember the example set by our young martyr, Little Li. Venerable Fulton Sheen said this story had such an effect on his life that he made a vow (which he kept) to make a daily holy hour for the rest of his life. When we enter the house of God and act, does our behavior show forth the reality that this place is His temple? Or do our actions seem to tell people that this place is more akin to a marketplace? We may not identify as one of those money changers, but does our demeanor show others that this is the most sacred place on earth — the greatest until heaven? Let us accompany Our Lady as she contemplated Him in Her womb. Dearest Queen, how did you take care of Him there? Show me that I may do the same in His temple. Mary, House of gold, pray for us.
