Those who have much are often greedy, those who have little always share

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life. - Theodore Roosevelt

Gospel text (Jn 2,13-25):
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
"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.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
"What sign can you show us for doing this?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jews said,
"This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?"
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
many began to believe in his name
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.

As disciples of Jesus, do we have Jesus' attitude toward His Church? Is the Church our passion, our love, and our joy? Do we do the minimum or the maximum for His Church? Do we relate to the Church as consumers or as those being consumed? Do we look at the Church for value, convenience, and service? Do we "go to the Church of our choice"? Or do we let ourselves be consumed by the Church and her Head, Jesus?

I am a temple of God, too. If I do not watch, pride, sloth, gluttony, envy, avarice, and selfishness will sneak in and damage everything. This is why the Lord warns us: «What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch’!» (Mk 13:37).

Jesus, you know me well, you know quite well what each man's mind is like, so make me realize my own faults, give me strength and a little bit of that zeal of yours so that I can also drive out from the temple all that might appear to separate me from you.