3rd Sunday in Lent (March 3, 2024)

Ex 20.1-17; 1 Cor 1.18, 22-25; Jn 2.13-25

• Jesus’ anger and forcefulness at those who were desecrating the temple is very instructive. Evidently, Jesus was angry. Evidently, too, He could not have sinned. How can we be angry but not sin?

• Anger is an emotion or a passion which we experience when faced with an evil that presents itself as an obstacle that has to be overcome. Anger is not bad in itself. When directed at something that is bad in itself, and when it remains under the control of our reason, it is really a good thing and it provides us with the emotional force that we need in order to overcome that evil. If Jesus had been soft and indecisive with these hardened hawkers, they probably would have driven Jesus away instead of being driven away themselves.

• One can get angry, but without losing his temper. The detail in the gospel of Jesus “making a kind of whip of cords” indicates that Jesus did not fly into a rage or lose His temper. He had complete self-possession, enough to weigh His actions and determine that He needed a good weapon or instrument in order to drive away the vendors.

• Thus, being angry at times at those who advance the Culture of Death is not necessarily a sin, but our anger needs to be measured and controlled.

Pro-Life Intercession

That our parish family may be a faith-filled community where we reach out to all those in distress and need, especially pregnant mothers, we pray to the Lord …