Third Sunday of Lent - March 7, 2021

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Exodus 20:1-17 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 John 2:13-25

Today’s Gospel feels particularly heavy as it shows Jesus in a rare and jarring state of anger. I imagine Jesus entering our church and observing the activities there. His reaction, I suspect, would be quite the opposite of anger. But being a person who leans introspective, I wonder what Jesus would observe if he looked inside my own heart and head as I attend Mass? What self-serving baggage do I bring into the church that would anger or anguish him?

I recall a moment last fall - a moment that sticks out as all moments do when the Holy Spirit places a sign along your path. I was driving down Wornall Road one afternoon on my way to pick up my son from school, when I caught myself scanning the cars around me...again. Over the course of the last year, I had developed this subconscious habit of searching for a particular face when out in the neighborhood and bracing myself for an unpleasant encounter. This face belonged to a very dear friend whose bond with me and my family was suddenly and painfully severed after the bitter end of a business partnership. This friend had recently moved two blocks from my home - such proximity for such a fresh wound. The habit of scanning the neighborhood took me down a slippery slope as I imagined how I would feel if this person‘s children attended Visitation school. My ultimate dread?...walking into Mass one day and seeing that face in a pew. 

It was at this moment, driving down Wornall Road that I noticed a new yard sign along my familiar daily route. It read, “Love Your Neighbor.” Shock. Shame. Wonder. Clarity. Acceptance. Forgiveness. Hope. Love. It took a fraction of a second for all of this to register. And in that instant the world flipped, my heart righted itself, and my whole perspective shifted. Visitation isn’t MY church. It is God’s church. It is a place that asks us to leave our baggage at the door, and to not pick it up on our way out. Message humbly and gratefully received.

Q: If Jesus looks inside my own heart and head as I attend mass, what would He observe? What baggage do I bring to Mass that would anger or anguish Him?

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