Time for Cleaning

I realised that every single time I clean up my room, in just a matter of days, it would come back to its original state. Books scattered, there are dirty clothes need to be washed, dust everywhere, and so on. This atmosphere requires my attention and time to tidy and clean it up. I believe that my experience is similar to all of you.

It is not just our house that needs to be cleansed, but the Temple in Jerusalem too. We know that Passover is the most magnificent feast for the Jews to commemorate and celebrate their deliverance from Egypt. Not surprising if the feast of Passover attracted many people from all over the world. They come to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices. However, the visitors/tourists who came to this celebration certainly will not bring with them cattle from abroad; it would be inconvenient for them. Besides, the sacrificial animals are already available to purchase nearby the Temple in Jerusalem.

Concerning the purchase of these sacrificial animals, two problems arise: First, since these guests are generally from the Roman colonies, their original currency must be exchanged into the standard currency for the offering in the Temple in Jerusalem. Secondly, the noisy situation of currency exchange and the purchase of sacrificial animal made nearby the temple was not a quiet place to pray but to do business. A sacred place which is supposedly peaceful now became a supermarket. There may be money changers who started cheating, as well as traders who started playing prices of the sacrificial animals. Of course, this situation made Jesus has to say and do something.

The uncleanness of our room/house and the crowded situation in the Temple often portrays our unsanitary/sickness and messy souls. To clean and tidy it up, sometimes we have to be hard to ourselves. In this sense, we need inside-radical-cleansing action. This is the reason why the Church provides the period of Lent, a time for repentance through fasting, prayer and alms-giving.

Just as the dust/garbage and dirty clothes in our rooms need to be cleaned up, so our souls need to be purified; just as the hustle and bustle of the Temple need to be tidied up, so our souls need to be restored. Since it concerns the salvation of our souls in the future, we will never be able to do it ourselves. We need our Lord, Jesus Christ! Only He is ready to help us out of the valley of sin, out of the destructive worldly tendencies. Today is the day of the deliverance within us. We need to start it. If we do not want to start today, it seems we will never start it at any time. Before it's too late, let's begin today, because until now we have not done anything yet.