Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 20

Jacob Jordaens - Jesus Driving the Merchants from the Temple [1645-50]
[Musée du Louvre, Paris - Oil on canvas, 288 x 436 cm]

Pre-Read: Luke 19: 41-48

Jesus Enters Jerusalem and Cleans the Temple

On Monday, we reflected on ways our Catholic Church has fallen short in being prophetic with regards to racism. As we deepen our engagement with the Third Week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius – looking at the suffering of racial minorities in the Church, we begin with the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple from Luke’s Gospel. Luke places this familiar story after Jesus has already entered Jerusalem in what we usually call Palm Sunday. He is praised by all the people gathered, except the Pharisees. 

Drawing near the city, Jesus offers a tearful lament on the state of affairs. He then enters Jerusalem and proceeds to the Temple. Inside the Temple, he drives out the vendors selling things there. As we enter into these two passages, we are invited to wonder what Jesus was lamenting and what he felt in the Temple. 

In this reflection, we invite you to pray with the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem and the Temple, first in his own context, asking what you notice in your prayer. Then, we invite you to consider how Jesus might look onto the Temple today – the Church – and see the experience of people of color as something he might weep or mourn. 

Resource: The Bishops' Letter

Protesters are seen near Capitol Hill in Washington May 21, 2018, to demand elected officials take immediate steps to confront systemic racism. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

READ National Catholic Reporter: The bishops' letter fails to recognize that racism is a white problem.

Meditation: 20-30 Minutes

I ask for the grace to be present to the ways I have chosen to be antiracist and the ways in which I have fallen short. 

I start by examining concrete ways I have learned about racial justice and antiracism over the past year. What have I learned about how racism operates? What do I know now that I did not know a year ago? How have I been changed in the process? What do I still want to know? 

I ask for the grace of Jesus to see the city of Jerusalem as he saw it and to be able to acknowledge the feelings many marginalized people experience today. 

I imagine Jesus walking near Jerusalem. What does the Mount of Olives look like? What does it feel like to look down into Jerusalem? What did Jesus see as he looked in? Did it remind him of the Incarnation Mediation, looking down into the world and declaring he would like to go accompany all of us in our brokenness? 

What caused him to weep? Sit with Jesus as he weeps and reflects on the true peace. 

Jesus enters the Temple. What does it look like? Who are the people selling items to worship at the Temple? Likely they have little resources and make their money by selling pious things for people to worship and offer sacrifice at the Temple. What happens when Jesus throws them out? Are they the ones who have turned the Temple into a den of thieves? Or perhaps is it the religious and political elites of the Temple whose rules and regulations for Temple sacrifice have created an industry of indigent people?

Who is listening to Jesus’ words? What does he say each day as the chief priests, scribes, and leaders plot to kill him?

Take a deep breath in and out and reenter the scene. How might Jesus look to our current reality and weep over the people he sees? Regarding the experience of racism, what causes Jesus to weep? Who does he see suffering? 

How might the Church operate like the Temple, pushing hard burdens on some and ignoring the experiences of people of color? Who do these burdens benefit? What emotions do Jesus feel? Are they the same or different than before? How does Jesus look at those whose livelihood is built off satisfying the status quo? Who are those people in our Church? 

Reflection Questions:

What did I feel as I prayed through Jesus’ experience weeping over Jerusalem and driving out those selling things in the Temple? How did this change when I prayed with Jesus seeing the experience of people of color today?

What causes me to weep as I consider how racism separates us today?

What am I called to drive out of myself and the Church?