63. Jesus in the temple

WHAT IS PLEASANT TO GOD

The streets of Jerusalem are crowded with thousands of pilgrims going to the temple. The temple is the house of God; it’s like the church for us today, a place where people gather. Pilgrims come to the temple to worship, pray and offer animals as a sacrifice, as God asked. But they’re not the only ones coming to the temple. There are all those who are there to do trade. People are constantly coming and going in a terrible hubbub… It’s impossible to hear the prayers and songs of worship. You can only hear the howling of cows, the bleating of sheep and goats and the cooing of pigeons. The temple courtyard has become a real market for animals. Pilgrims and vendors discuss prices. They argue, quarrel. There are also money changers sitting at their small tables with their silver and gold coins neatly stacked. They exchange the pilgrims ‘money so they can buy things. All these merchants and these « bankers » get rich dishonestly. The house of God has become a place of commerce, of lies, of deceit. Jesus has just arrived. All this « spectacle » makes him very angry. He takes some strings. He turns them into a whip and He drives out all these merchants. He unties the oxen, the sheep, the goats. He kicks them out. Imagine all these animals running bellowing and bleating..He opens the cages and the pigeons fly away as fast as they can He overturns the tables of the money changers. Gold and silver coins roll around. Several people rush to pick them up. – No! Jesus says to them. I forbid you to take them! The temple courtyard is unrecognizable. Everything is topsy-turvy. The pilgrims watch in amazement. – What’s going on? What’s the matter with Him? – Why are you surprised? Jesus says to them. Don’t you know that God said that the temple is his house? It must be a house of prayer and you make it cave of thieves!. Calm gradually returns. The blind, the lame and the infirm approach Jesus. What will the Lord do? Is He still angry? Will He bless them? Yes! He heals them all. He’s not angry with them. He has compassion for all these sick people. People burst with joy: – Glory to God! Glory to God! The chief priests come together. – We must absolutely find a way to stop this Jesus! They say to themselves, very angry. We must get rid of Him as soon as possible! And the children who are in the temple, what do they do when they see these blind people who have recovered their sight, those lame and crippled people who jump on their own two feet? Well! They praise God with all their heart: – Hosanna! Hosanna! Hooray! Long live Jesus who works these miracles and saves us! Long live Jesus! The chief priests approach Jesus. – Can you hear what these children are crying? – Yes of course! Jesus answers. Does that surprise you? And yet you know this text well: “O God! You make praises sound from the mouths of children and toddlers sing in your honor. » They don’t answer and walk away. What about the children? They continue to praise God happily. A few days later, Jesus returns to the temple. He sits in front of the trunk. A rich man approaches. He puts in the trunk several gold coins. Another proudly deposits a big handful of silver coins. A third one checks that people can see him well before dropping one by one his gold coins, then comes a fourth one, and a fifth one. All put quite a lot of money. Jesus looks at them. He does not say anything. A woman arrives. She is alone. Her husband is dead. She is poor. She wears neither jewelry, nor nice outfit but a well worn dress. Yet she comes to the temple to give God her offering and to pray to him. She approaches the trunk and discreetly places two small coins. Jesus looks at his disciples and says to them: – Did you see that poor widow? Did you see the two small coins she put in the trunk? Truly I tell you, this woman put in the trunk much more than all the others. For them, the money they gave was money they didn’t need, it was superfluous money. But as for her, she gave God everything she has, all she has to live on!

1, 2 3, 4 AND YOU AND ME! If Jesus had asked his disciples: « Who has given the most to God? », just like you and me, they would quickly have made a little calculation and presto! They would have responded. But, wrong! They would have been all wrong. God does not count like us. He watches what we give but also what is in our heart. How do we give it? With joy or with regret? For the love of him or for others to know? I suggest you think about it. Now, to answer our questions: « What is pleasing to God?” and « What does he want to find in his house, in his church? », I suggest you make two lists. A first list with everything you can do to please to God when we are together in church. The second list with all the things you can do t hat do not please God. To help you, you can listen to this talk again or reread the story on our site “www.123raconte.com “. You will find it also in the Gospel of Mark at chapters 11 and 12.

4, 3, 2, 1 AND WE PARENTS! Regarding the offering to God, I suggest you have a talk with your children. You will thus be able to enrich their thinking and answer their questions. Then do with them the two lists in the form of a game. Each in turn gives an answer and you discuss it. Just as you teach them respect for others, teach them to respect the presence of God, whether in church, or at home when we come together to pray, sing, read the Gospel, listen “1,2,3 STORY TIME”; Even if there are only two or three of you, remember, the Lord promised to be there. Jesus said: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them” Matthew 18/20