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| Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran |
(Audio)
Zeal for your house will consume me.
We are regularly privileged to enter into the house of God, into the very presence of the LORD, flesh and blood, soul and divinity. Not only that, he enters into and dwells in us, both by the Holy Spirit and in the Eucharist. Does zeal consume us? Most likely it isn't always the most characteristic mark of our experience. Often we find that mark to be more one of complacency. According to Merriam-Webster, zeal is "eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something". Synonyms include passion, fervor, ardor, and enthusiasm. It is no wonder that such a feeling could bring about righteous anger in Jesus when he saw his Father's house being made 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 money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."
This is not to say that we chase out the people who are talking about things that aren't Church related during mass. Rather, it is more about what we allow in ourselves. When we find thoughts within us that are not zealous for his temple we should chase them out.
we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (see Second Corinthians 10:5).
Our visits to physical Churches are meant to be heightened and focused experiences of the presence of God. They are the house of the Father where we experience his love out poured for our sakes. But these experiences are meant to feed back into how we live our lives day to day. Just as our Churches are set apart for divine purpose so too are we.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
We can't keep living so casually, letting ourselves become dens of thieves, a marketplace of worldly pursuits and passions competing with God for our attention. There is so much joy, so much life to be found when we let ourselves become what we are meant to be.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Jesus tells us that this river is meant to flow from the hearts of those who believe (see John 7:38). Is it flowing from us? If we desire it, it can.
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
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