Third Sunday of Lent

Many of us may know the story of Ulyses. He was the Greek warrior who went to the Trojan War,  and began the long journey home.  He was very anxious to see his wife, his son, his dog and of course his homeland. The journey took twenty years; he had many setbacks and many adventures,  and when he finally arrives, he sees that all his possessions have been taken over by his enemies,  he is now in danger of being killed in the place he once called home.  In todays gospel we find another home that has been taken over,  this time, it is not the home of a Greek warrior, it is the temple of Jerusalem, the house of God.  A place where people went to speak to God to listen to his voice, to find beauty and truth.  Now God, the creator of the world has been expelled from his own home.  What was a place of peace and beauty has now become a den of thieves.  A place of dishonesty and selfishness.  Jesus expels them, he did the only thing he could do.  One might think, that Jesus is exageratting,  but no, he does them no injustice,  he is giving them back the house of God, he is giving them back the Father they had forgotton,  and when Jesus turns the tables over and drives them out he does not love them any less.  One day he will be nailed to the cross and ask the same Father to forgive them.  But this gospel is not only about the temple of Jerusalem,  it is about you and me.  It is about our minds and our hearts.  We can be so taken up with the occupations of our daliy lives,  we can be invaded by pasisons distractions and social media, we can be slaves of our own selfishness.  We too can forget the presence of God, no longer speak to him,  no longer listen to his vocie.  The real guest can be expelled,  and someone else can move in.  We can ask ourselves today,  who lives in my heart?  who lives in my mind?  are my mind and my heart full of peace, beauty, honesty and love?  or has someone else taken over inside?  This is the challenging question we can ask ourselves: what can I do to make Jesus really feel at home in my heart?