Imagine for a moment that we’re all slaves in a foreign land, our parents, our children, all of us. We’ve never had a day off. We don’t even know what that means. Our slave drivers beat us for the flimsiest of infractions. We’ve seen our parents dishonored & abused. The little we have, our masters steal. Including our women. When they covet a sister, a niece, a wife, they grab her, beat her up, violate her. We get framed & blamed for their offenses, too. And we’ve seen some of our nearest & dearest executed. Imagine this as having been our lot for 5 generations.
Then, imagine a guy named Moses rescuing us. Sent by his God, he says. Lucky for us, his God turns out to be more powerful than the inutil gods we were forced to worship, & by whose names our masters cursed us. This God, however, opened the sea for us, rained down manna, sprang water, freed us! Moses said his God swore never to allow the indignities in Egypt to happen to us ever again. Like, he would be our only God from now on, first of all. We may take at least one day a week to rest now. Our parents would never be dishonored, nor our women coveted & abused. No more killing, stealing, bearing false witness. Moses’ God also swore us to the Ten Commands. They’re actually more like Ten Good News than Ten Commandments!
As you can imagine, sisters & brothers, God’s Law was really that: good news, esp. to a bunch of slaves who had never known true freedom. Alas, generations & generations of rabbis & Temple authorities thereafter, they piled rule upon rule, law upon law, punishment after punishment, all pursuant to the Ten Commandments, they said. Paghuhugas lang ng kamay at paa, may batas na. May mga bawal nang pagkain. Even saying the word, “pig” or “pork” was now forbidden. Bawal na pagsabayin ang dairy at karne sa kainan. Bawal na makipag-usap sa mga babae sa public. Lalo na sa maysakit at maykapansanan. Etc, etc.
So, what happened? Well, what once safeguarded life & dignity of freed slaves, were now down to Temple purity versus worldly defilement. The Temple was the nuclear core of Jewish life, the holiest place on earth. But before showing up to God at Temple, make absolutely sure you’re defilement-free, stain-free, impurities-free. Not quite the “free” the Ten Commandments meant once upon a time. Worst, the laws became burdensome esp. for the poor, the sick, the women. Because in order to be that pure before God, you’d have to have the luxury of time to purify. In order to have that luxury of time, your life must not be in survival mode. In order for life to not be in survival mode, you’d have to be earning decently. In other words, this kind of almost absolute Temple purity came easy for the likes of religious & Temple authorities who had the time, the lifestyle, & the means to stay “pure.” Not so for the rest, the overtaxed, struggling rest who were barely scraping by, who were sick, poor, jobless, & not out of free choice. Pero sila pa ang madalas pinararatangang defiled, impure, dirty.
But Jesus wasn’t naïve. Like many Jews, he knew that the religious authorities used Temple purity to their advantage. Their very own historian, Josephus, wrote that Jews at the time called the Temple, “the bazaar of the sons of Annas.” Negosyo! Annas was high priest for a long time; his sons, the Temple treasurers; priests like himself. They & fellow Temple honchos imposed many additional Temple “fees.” Like: fee for inspection of animal sacrifices, to make sure they were unblemished; fee for purification of blemished animals before they were offered up. If you wanted a guaranteed unblemished animal, buy from the Temple vendors. Mas mahal, pero garantisado. Wink-wink. It was also known that the animals sold at Temple were from the flocks of Caiaphas, Annas’ son-in-law & successor as High Priest. All in the family. No wonder Jesus crossed an emotional threshold that day. Hindi na niya matiis. Garapalan na. You could almost see Jesus’ thought-bubble go: “Napakahigpit ninyo sa batas, napakahilig ninyong magmalinis, napakalupit ninyo sa mga dukha at maysakit. Tapos ito? Negosyo. In my Father’s house! In the very house of God!” In effect, the Temple authorities had brought Egypt back. But this time, w/ a new version of idolatry & covetousness, a subtler kind of killing, stealing, & adulterated-ness. They were defiling the Temple, in other words. But they shrouded it under fine white robes.
Sisters & brothers, 1st of all, we want to always remember that whatever rules, doctrines, laws we have in Catholic Faith—we must always be able to trace it back to Jesus: his goodness & kindness, his openness & inclusivity, his care for the poor, the marginalized. The moment we start practicing our Faith such that we become ruthless & self-righteous, elitist & exclusivist, & uncaring & indifferent to the poor, then we’ve turned into slave masters. But God is a freeing God & his Law is freeing law. God is a Good News God & his Law is Good News Law. Once we turn that Law into something burdening, demeaning, & Bad News for others, we can be sure we’re worshiping not God, but a Pharaoh made in our image & likeness.
Second, do you sometimes notice, sisters & brothers, that people who are uber-rigid about moral purity, religiosity, chastity, sexuality, to the point of ruthlessness & bigotry—they’re the ones eventually exposed for their hidden perversions, do you notice? The Padre Damasos of this world, the Larry Craigs, the Marcial Maciels (not to mention, the guy in my hometown claiming to be “the appointed son of God”). May katotohanan talaga ‘yung sinasabi:ang labis-labis magmalinis, may tago-tagong pagkalihis.
In these two more weeks of Lent, sisters & brothers, we beg that God continue to give us the grace of Ash Wednesday: to turn away from sin & believe in the Good News. The Law of the Lord is Good News. Like the Psalm today says, it rejoices the heart, refreshes the soul, enlightens the eye. Because God’s Law is not just a what, sisters & brothers. God’s Law that is Good News is a Who.
Homily delivered by Fr. Arnel Aquino, SJ
on the Third Sunday of Lent
Cenacle Retreat House