THROUGH UNTRUE
Many of us harbor guilt for experiencing anger. But anger itself is neither morally bad nor good. It is our instinctive reaction to whatever threatens or destroys something or someone we love. Tim Keller suggests that anger is a form of love. It is "love in motion."
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus was furious at the merchants and money changers who had transformed the Temple of Jerusalem into a marketplace. "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 moneychangers and overturned their tables" (Jn. 2:15). Jesus acted this way, not because He hated the merchants. Rather, His profound love for the Temple, a sacred place dedicated to God’s worship and adoration, compelled Him to exhibit such outrage.
So, the next time you lose your temper over someone or something, pause a while, take a deep breath, and ask yourself, "What is it that I deeply love, which is being destroyed or threatened by this thing or person?" Most often, the honest answer is "Myself."
Jonathan Parnell articulates, "If we find ourselves upset about being snubbed on social media, cut off in traffic, unrecognized at work, having our ideas dismissed, or feeling underappreciated by our own family members, it might be because we excessively love ourselves." This malignant self-centeredness often triggers an angry outburst at the slightest provocation and for the wrong reasons.
Jesus expressed righteous indignation at the appropriate moment and for the right reasons. He got angry when the people desecrated the Temple and reduced it into a rowdy marketplace because, to Him, this was an indication that they had forsaken genuine worship. As one prophet predicted: "These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me" (Isaiah 29:13).
The cleansing of the Temple by an enraged Jesus urges us to ponder the reasons behind our own anger. Do our blood boil over the daily traffic jams, uncollected trash, air and noise pollution, rising prices, unchecked government corruption, and rampant criminality? Anger consumes energy very rapidly. We might be wasting our energy on situations that are beyond our control while neglecting or exacerbating those that are within our power to address.
During this Lenten season, if there's one thing we should be angry at, it must be our failure to prevent worldly concerns from overshadowing our spiritual priorities. Have we, like the old Temple of Jerusalem, become marketplaces of ideas, appetites, and schemes? Instead of worshipping God, are we desperately seeking truth in counterfeit beliefs and indulging in cheap pleasures that we mistake for genuine happiness?
St. Paul refers to us as temples of God. He wrote: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy” (1 Corinthians, 3:16-17). Recognizing how far we have strayed should ignite our desire to allow Jesus to cleanse us of such clutter.
Lent is a season of repentance. Repentance does not involve wallowing in guilt and remorse. Instead, it entails a thorough self-examination and spiritual house-cleansing. Just as we tidy and organize our physical living spaces to create a conducive environment for a happy life, so too must we cleanse our inner selves to foster spiritual growth and enlightenment. Let us allow Jesus to reign supreme in our hearts and minds, and embrace His promise of a new life where grace, mercy, and second chances abound.