(Please read the scripture passage before reading the homily.)
Forty days after the birth of Jesus, his parents brought him to the Temple. Luke described the event as Jesus entering his Temple to take possession of it for the glory of Israel and the light to the Gentiles.
Twelve years later, Jesus once again entered the Temple and spent three days litening and answering the teachers of the Law. Jesus was the rightful occupant, since it was the home of his Father.
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus once again entered the Temple as its owner. He cleansed it and restored it to its previous purpose, that of being a place of prayer. Luke reports it in such a way as to show fulfilment of prophecies. It is not an accident that Jesus entered the temple and that Luke reported it as he did. Jesus is fulfilling prophecy and taking possession of what is rightly his.
The Temple has a privileged place in Luke’s Gospel. It is where Jesus was revealed to those who were ready to receive him. Simeon and Anna in the first account, the doctors of the law in the second account, the people who were hanging on his words in the account given today.
At the death of Jesus, Luke will tell us how the curtain separating the inner holy place from the rest of the Temple was torn in two, thus opening the Temple to all people.
In all this we should understand that God’s presence is not just for one or two groups of people. Rather, it is for all people. We cannot control who will receive and who will not receive the gift of God’s presence. In our human nature we tend to put limits up to protect the gifts God has given us from others who have not received these gifts. Our faith in God is such a gift. The place where we were born, the language we learned growing up in our family, and the material wealth and comfort we have are all gift of God, meant to be shared. None of these are we permitted to hoard or to treat as though they pertained only to self and not to others.
When we hoard, we promote retaliation as the need of the poor clashes with the greed of the rich. The Temple of God is for all people, not just for a select religious group. The Temple of God invites us all to enter. Those who share their wealth find ready access to the Temple, whereas those who do not find themselves excluded.