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. Ezekiel 47:9
You are God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I
laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds
upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely,
Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:9C-11
“Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s
house a marketplace.” His disciples
recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal
for your house will consume me. John 2:16-17
Piety
God,
who quiets great winds and stills rough seas We ask your protection for the
people of the Philippines. Comfort them
in their fear. Stay close to them in
their danger.
And
we ask the intercession of Your Blessed Mother That together with her and with
all your holy saints We may stand in solidarity with our Filipino brothers and
sisters through their darkest hour through their longest night. Give us the courage to remain steadfast To
reach out to them in their need To comfort them in their sorrow To hold them as closely as You hold them To see
them through to morning.
For
the people of the Philippines and all affected by Typhoon Haiyan. For their
protection and their comfort, and that we may stand with them in their time of
trouble, we pray to the Lord. Lord,
hear our prayer. (Prayer for the Philippines)
Study
Jesus
chases the moneylenders and “market-eers” out of the temple in the second
chapter of John’s Gospel. Chapter
2. Two.
Two? Already?!
Jesus
has performed only one sign of his divinity – changing the water into wine at
the wedding in Cana. At this stage in the
narrative, He hardly had a deep resume or ministry, service or signs to put
this action into context. On His first
trip to Jerusalem in his public ministry, Jesus was afflicting the comfortable
and attracting controversial even negative attention to his words and works.
Just
a few paragraphs later, we learn that his ministry is already drawing the attention
and curiosity of the Pharisees as Nicodemus – under the cover of darkness –
comes to learn about the light that Jesus is bringing into the world.
How
are we to put into context God’s intervention into human history in such a
confrontational manner from the outset? This
is not unique to John. In Luke’s Gospel,
Jesus emerges into public ministry with his sermon at the temple in Nazareth –
retelling and altering the manifesto the Jews had known since the days of the
prophet Isaiah so much that they try to drive him off a cliff in chapter 4. Again, this takes place early before a lot of
the healing and other miracles are recounted.
Note,
too, that Jesus evicts the merchants from the temple on Passover – the same
feast at which he will be condemned a few years later. Learning about these cultural contradictions
early in the Gospels sets up the conflict that will spill over at the subsequent
Passover.
When
Jesus intervenes with individuals lives, he often does so in ways that try to
open our eyes and ears to new ways of looking at people – to new light that he
shines on humanity. He converses with
the Samaritan woman at a well in the sweltering midday sun. He heals the royal official’s son when other
royal officials will later condemn God’s son.
He cures the man at Bethesda whom others would not even touch.
Action
Jesus
literally throws his body into ministry from the time he is dunked into the Jordan
River at Bethany by his cousin. As we
reflect on how the Body of Jesus is a temple, how does the evidence of our
faith flow out into action in the world?
The symbolic water in Ezekiel flows from the temple giving life. Jesus gave his body to the world to bring
life to all – Jew and Gentile, Roman and Samaritan, healthy or ill.
How
can you bring life to others this weekend?
Sometimes
water does not always bring life. This
week in the Philippines, the water and winds of Typhoon Haiyan has brought
terrible destruction.
As
Super Typhoon Haiyan moves from the Philippines to Vietnam, government
authorities and locals are bracing for the worst as they see its effects in the
light of day. More than 18 million people were in Haiyan’s 500-mile-wide path.
The storm may also hit areas in Bohol, which is extremely vulnerable because it
has already been damaged by an earthquake. Haiyan may become one of the strongest
and most intense storms on record with winds measured at up to 195 mph. You can
lend your support to various funds including:
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