“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
(John 2:19)
Rehab can often get violent.
When we are trying to recover from an addiction or a vice, things may
get messy. So it stands to reason that
when we turn away from the vice of sin, the devil will do everything in his
power to fight us and cause havoc. But
that’s when we must let Jesus in and cleanse the temple of our hearts. I said something similar during my homily
this morning, but one of my classmates said it better when he tweeted “Lord,
enter into the temple of my heart and start tossing tables! Banish from my heart whatever does not belong
to you!” (@Fr_Jason) But Jesus will not
force his way into hearts, we have to let him.
Sin builds a wall of stone around our hearts that is harder and more
stubborn than the stones that made up the old temple. This wall makes us numb to sin. We keep repeating the same mistakes over and
over again because we no longer feel remorse, guilt, shame, and are no longer
hurt by our sins. However, sin
eventually will weigh us down.
The Opening Prayer or Collect of the Mass today perfectly
sums up what the Church is trying to communicate to us this Sunday when it
says: “O God…look graciously on this confession of our lowliness, that we, who
are bowed down by our conscience, may always be lifted up by your mercy.” Sin is like a boulder that we carry on our
shoulders. Sin dehumanizes us, makes us
weak, and does not let us see the glorious face of our Lord. But that is why today we implore in our
prayers to be “lifted up” by God’s mercy.
We need him to enter into our hearts to cast out all evil as he cast out
the merchants in the temple. We need him
to take that weight off our shoulders so we can hold our heads high and see his
glory. That is why we must avail
ourselves of the Sacrament of Confession.
The confessional is where things may get messy, but we come out clean as
a whistle. Jesus does the dirty
work. He will cast out all that is
evil. He will toss aside what doesn’t
belong in our hearts. Lent is the
perfect time to cleanse our souls in confession. Make a good Examination of Conscience. Go confess your sins. Feel the power of His mercy. Jesus wants to make something new. He wants to tear down your old self and raise
a new man or woman. The only catch is we
have to let him in! So as we continue
our Lenten journey, ask yourself this question: “Am I going to let Jesus make
something new by letting him into my heart?”
