Have you ever seen the t.v. show American Greed?
It tells the stories of people who will do anything to get rich. Some of them are truly shocking. For example, I just saw the episode about Martin Shkreli, a 34-year-old businessman who was recently labeled, “The most hated man in America.”
In September 2015, Martin bought the rights to a life saving drug called Daraprim, raising the price for a single pill overnight from $13.50 to $750, making it almost impossible for some to buy it, effectively killing them.
Even worse is the fact that most of the patients affected by it are the elderly, people with AIDS, and pregnant mothers.
Martin admitted this outrageous price hike was motivated by his greed; he doesn’t care about the crippling financial toll it takes on others, only making money.
Understandably, his story has provoked widespread anger. Perhaps the only good news is that he’s currently imprisoned, awaiting trial for fraud and corruption charges. As the old saying goes, “You reap what you sow.”
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Just as many are rightfully angry with Martin Shkreli for being so greedy, so Jesus was angry with the religious leaders of his time working in the temple. Like Martin, they took advantage of people, specifically pilgrims who came to worship.
As it is says in the Gospel, “Jesus 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 out of the temple area… (John 2:14).”
While it may sound strange to us today, Jews used to worship God by sacrificing animals in the temple. It was an ancient practice, dating back to the Passover in the Book of Exodus. Devout Jews didn’t have a choice; it’s what God asked of them.
But the religious authorities took advantage of this practice by selling animals inside the temple at unfairly high prices, making plenty of profit as a result.
They’d even make pilgrims purchase these animals using the temple currency, meaning you had to exchange your money for theirs, again, at a very high price, hence more profit.
Think of it like this… Imagine if we raised the price of a candle here in church from $2 to $200… There’d be a lot of angry parishioners! You light these candles because you want to pray – and we should never take advantage of that.
That is why Jesus was so angry. These “religious” leaders had lost their faith; they had broken the first commandment and worshipped another god, that of money. Like Martin Shkreli, they were simply corrupt businessmen acting falsely in the name of God.
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We, on the other hand, are here to worship God!
But the Gospel should still challenge us, as it urges us to consider how well we do that. In what ways does our parish bring glory to God? And in what ways might we improve the way we worship?
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For example, are we engaged throughout the Mass, or do we let our minds drift? It matters to God how focused we are on him.
It matters to God how much effort priests put into their Sunday homilies… It matters to God whether or not we pray for one another. It matters to God whether or not we offer each other peace from our hearts.
It matters to God how loudly we sing… It matters to God how devoutly we pray after receiving communion…
It matters to God how deeply we listen to his Word, and whether or not we’re changed by it. It matters to God how much we care.
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As we move forward with this Mass, may our hearts remain open to Him, who alone is deserving of all our attention, all of our praise, and all of our love.
