Saint Irenaeus, a 2nd century bishop and a Father of the Church, taught that “the glory of God is a person fully alive.” This teaching, as appealing as it might be, leaves us with an important question: “Just what brings a person to be fully alive?” Finding an answer to this question is not difficult, as the answer has been taught by the Church since the beginning. If one wants to truly experience the new and abundant life that Jesus came to give, then one needs to pursue holiness. We find holiness of life by striving to live according to the two great commandments taught by Jesus: loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength; and loving our neighbor as ourselves. For the perfect example of holiness, we need only look to Jesus and then pattern our lives on his.
Obviously we cannot lead a life in imitation of our Lord all on our own. Rather, growing in holiness of life requires us to rely upon God’s grace for assistance. This grace comes through receiving the Sacraments, especially Baptism through which we enter into new life through Christ; Penance (Confession) through which we receive forgiveness for our sins; and Holy Eucharist through which we are nourished by the Body and Blood of Jesus himself. It also comes from reflecting on Scripture and through daily prayer.
Reflect on Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple in today’s Gospel as he drove out the money changers and the merchants who were selling animals to be used for sacrificial offerings to God (John 2:13-25). The merchants were providing a valuable service for pilgrims to Jerusalem because animals were needed for the daily sacrifices offered in the Temple, and only Jewish coins could be used for offering the Temple tax because foreign coins bore the image of pagan gods. Yet those who were performing this necessary function had begun to abuse their role and act in a way that was undignified and even scandalous. Jesus was trying to restore a sense of the holiness – a sense of the sacred – to the Temple area.
Imagine Jesus coming into the temple of your soul and driving out those things that are keeping you from loving God and others more fully. Through this reflection, you may find one or more concrete things that you can work on through the rest of Lent, with the overall goal being to continue to grow in holiness. The way to experience the new and abundant life Jesus came to give us is no mystery. It is found in pursuing holiness.