My House shall be called the house of prayer

Introduction

Dearest brothers and sisters, I am writing this reflection as I came across the story of Jesus cleansing the temple, and I was reminded of the desire that God has put in my heart, for me and for my family. Let us begin the reflection by reading once again the story.

Mark 11:15-19

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons; 16 and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he taught, and said to them, "Is it not written, `My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

We all know well this story. In fact, this story is quite controversial, since it potrays Jesus who were “Angry”. It is very seldom to find passages when Jesus was angry (besides to the Pharisees). And here, Jesus is not only angry, but was rather aggressive. He started to overturned the tables and the seats! He even made a whip of cords to drove them out! (cf. John 2:15).

And most of the time, this image still lingers in our mind. And most of the time too, we failed to listen to the message of the Good News. Now, let us reflect on what Jesus wants to say to us.

Destroy this Temple

It is interesting to note that the same story is told by John (John 2:13-22) in his gospel. And let us see what was happening after Jesus did all those aggressive deeds: The Jews were criticizing Jesus. They asked

..., "What sign have you to show us for doing this?" (v18)

in other words, they were asking, “Who are YOU? Who you do you think you are that you can do this to the temple?”. And this was what Jesus said in reply.

..., "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (v19)

They were confused of course! What was he talking about?

The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" (v20).

But this time, Jesus didn't give an answer to those people. But John, wrote what Jesus meant,

But he spoke of the temple of his body. (v21)

Well, some of us will think immediately, “Oh, so this is the meaning, he is not talking about the temple, he is talking about his body.” But what Jesus intended to tell is this: My Body is the Temple! My Body is the true Temple! The old temple in Jerusalem will be replaced with a New Temple, and that is my body, Christ's own Body.

A House of Prayer

And so when Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah,

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations (Mark 11;17, Isaiah 56:7)

What he meant was more than just a building, or a temple in Jerusalem. God promised through his prophet, that God's House shall be called a house of prayer for all people, and this God's house would be Christ's own Body.

Christ's Body is the true God's house, the true temple, the true God's “dwelling” place, since in Christ,

...all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,(Col 1:19)

And the Good News is this: You are Christ's Body!

St. Paul said,

16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are. (1 Cor 3:16-17)

And so, what does it mean when Jesus said

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? (Mark 11;17, Isaiah 56:7)?

Maybe this: that we Christian should be a house of prayer, a house where God dwells, a house where people can encounter the loving God.

Man and Woman of Prayer

And so the message is this, that we should be a man and woman of prayer, we should be a person who prays! St. Paul exhorts the Christian with these words

...be constant in prayer (Rom 12:12)

Pray at all times in the Spirit...(Eph 6:18)

This is what Jesus told us to be: a house of prayer. Jesus did not only tell us, but he gave us the example. He prays at all times, at important moments of his life, before his passion, he even prayed in the midst of the crowd, and he also taught us how to pray to our Father (Mat 14:23, Mat 26:36, Mrk 1:35, Luk 9:18,29, Mat 6:9, Joh 17, and many others).

His life gives us the glimpse of the intimacy with the Father, and this is what he is inviting us to. He is inviting us to be intimate with God.

And so Jesus reveals to us of what it means to pray. To pray is to have this intimate relationship with our Father in Heaven. A relationship that is beyond words, that goes into the silence of our heart, which reaches into the deepest of our heart.

Deep calls to deep at the thunder of thy cataracts; all thy waves and thy billows have gone over me. (Psalm 42:8)

Deep is calling unto deep! The deep of our heart is calling unto the deep of God's heart. Prayer is a time of Loving as St. Therese of Avila said.

Prayer is an act of love, words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love."

For mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.

Our relationship with God is not measured by our ministry or works that we do, but rather by how we pray. This prayer, this relationship, is the one that will shine out in our lives, in all the works that we do, and in all the words that we say.

The Cleansing of the Temple

This might be the reason why Jesus became so aggressive in cleansing the temple. Because in God's “house”, God “dwells” in it. And you are God's house by virtue of your baptism, you are God's holy temple.

It is worth reading again from John what Jesus did to the temple,

15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade." 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for thy house will consume me." (Jn 2:15-17)

Zeal for God's house consumed Jesus! Not because of hatred but because of Love that Jesus did all those acts. Jesus was zealous because the temple Is his Body, and His body should be the dwelling place of God, and the dwelling place of God should be a house prayer where all people can encounter God. But now the house has become a house of trade (Jn 2:16). It has become a house where “self-interest” dwells. Now the house has become a house of robbers (Mark 11:16). It has become a house where selfishness and injustice dwells.

How is then the house of God... in us? How often have we failed to be a house of prayer, how often have we failed to pray? How often have we became no longer a man or woman of prayer, but we filled our lives with many other things to satisfy us only? How often have we become a house of trade, with its self-interest? How often have we become a den of robbers with its selfishness and injustice? How often that other people cannot see God dwelling in us? O Lord, have mercy on us!

Maybe we need to kneel down once again before Jesus and ask Him to cleanse us.

While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." (Luke 5:12)

And we know for sure how Jesus would response to our request, he will embrace us gently with full of love,

And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him. (Luke 5:13)

A Household of Prayer

There is another message in the words, “My house shall be called the house of prayer”. Besides indicating that a Christian is ought to be a man or woman of prayer, Jesus is indicating that His Church is a house of prayer. We have seen that the temple is Christ's own Body, and here the Church collectively is Christ's very own Body, God's House, God's Holy Temple, God's “dwelling” place. And we all know that a Family is the unit Church. In fact, the words in Greek (oikos) and in Hebrew (bayith) used for “House” is the same as those for “Household”, or in other words, a family.

And so, Jesus is even inviting us to go further from just becoming a man or woman of prayer into a “family that prays”. This is Jesus' invitation: pray as a family! My Family, Jesus is saying, shall be called a “household of prayer”.

And these same words have been echoed by our late Pope John Paul II,

a family that prays together, stays together.

This is the reason why this story of Jesus cleansing the temple is sometimes proclaimed in the “House blessing” ceremony. For Jesus is inviting not only to clean the “building”, but also inviting the household in that house to be a “household of prayer”.

This is Jesus' yearning: to see families to pray together, and so be a witness of God's image into this world.

Jesus also told us that

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Mat 18:19)

And where else do we think that these words of Christ are most perfectly fulfilled than in our family? The smallest Church of Christ! In the family, we image God in his fullness as communion of persons, in his intimacy, in his exchange of love.

Closing

I share this reflection out of my yearning to pray in my family. I grew up as a Catholic in a Catholic family. And I remember that my mom often told me to pray before I slept. Yet, seldom did we meet as a family to pray together.

As I studied in Singapore away from my family, God helped me to appreciate my family and their love for me even more. And every time I went back to Indonesia for holiday, I tried to use my time as best as I can with my family, rather than hanging out with my friends. And then one day, I came across these words of our late Pope John Paul II

a family that prays together, stays together.

And God gave a desire in my heart to pray together as a family. Never did I know how difficult it is. The difficulties did not arise from the other members of my family, but rather from myself.

All my pride and thought was telling me, “What do you think you'r doing? Wanna be a good boy? Wanna change something? They will think 'what's wrong with you'!”. I had never experienced such a fear before, a fear to “ask my family to pray together”. It might sound ridiculous, but that was what I felt.

And so that night, I prayed to God to help me, and to give me the strength. He who gave the the desire will help me to fulfill it. And so I came out of my bedroom to my living room where my mom was. And I asked my mom, whether she wanted to pray together. And amazingly she said yes! And so I ran upstairs to my sister's room, and told her (with some hidden truth) “Mom wants to pray together!”. And she said yes! And my sister suggested that we pray the rosary. Then I came to my Dad's room and said (again with some hidden truth) “Sis and Mom wants to pray toghether”. And he said ok! Wow, I couldn't believe it.

And so we prayed that night, the rosary, and amazingly with some laughter and joy. I was so happy that night. I was happy because God helped my family to start to pray together. It had not become easy since then, but God showed me that it is possible! It is possible to have a family like His own family, the Holy Family.

And so I shared this reflection with you all with a prayer in my heart for you and for me. I pray that we may become a man and woman of prayer that shines in the darkness of this world, that attracts people to the Love of God, and I also pray that our family may be like His family, a “house of prayer”. It is in this “house”, that we experience the God of Love, and it is in this “house” that others too will come to know this Love. Let us close with a prayer

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid

One thing have I asked of the LORD,

that will I seek after;

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the LORD,

and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent,

he will set me high upon a rock.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living!

Wait for the LORD; be strong,

and let your heart take courage;

yea, wait for the LORD!

Psalm 27:1,5,6,14,15

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam

-For the greater Glory of God-