I don’t usually use this space to talk about the Sunday readings. But, this weekend’s gospel dovetails into something I want to mention this Lent. Jesus cleanses the temple. He makes quite a ruckus, he stirs things up, and he even begins to make enemies. Why? Because the temple does matter. Yes, the building is holy, dedicated to his Father. But, the temple of Jesus’ body—soon to be crucified and raised from the dead—matters. And so do the temples of our lives.

The Church calls us to allow Jesus to complete the work of cleaning temples—the temples of our lives. He wants to overturn our comfortable sins, our compromises with truth, our enslavement to lust or anger, our laziness about the things of God, and our indifference to the values of the kingdom.

Where does that cleansing happen? Thanks be to God’s grace, we’re given the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A few words, a few minutes of our time, a slight inconvenience to our schedule and we walk out forgiven by Jesus. Make use of this gift this Lent. Let Jesus forgive us. Have that respect for the temples of our lives.