Money Changers in the Temple

Sermon for the Monday of the Fourth Week in Lent

by Fr. Richard G. Cipolla

March 11, 2024

When I lived in England many years ago now, I made it a point to visit the many
great medieval cathedrals that still stand today: Canterbury, York, Salisbury,
Durham, all magnificent testaments to the faith of the people of what we call the
Middle Ages. After the English Reformation led by King Henry VIII because the
Pope would not grant him a divorce from his wife, all the cathedrals in England
became part of the new Church of England. And so they still stand, no longer
Catholic but just as beautiful and as testaments to faith.

The sad fact is that today many of these cathedrals are being used to rent out their
space for what are called “raves”. The young people know what this means, but
for the rest of us who have to be told what a rave is: A rave is a dance party at a
warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically
featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music where alcoholic
drinks are served. I saw a photo of a rave that went on in the huge nave of
Canterbury Cathedral featuring both a DJ and a rock band and two large bars set
up with drinks. Many of the cathedrals in England, like their parish churches, have
very few people attending their services. There is constant need for repair of these
buildings and the money to do so, despite money from the State, the money is
drying up. So these raves are a way to raise money for the upkeep of these
churches. That this is being done is deeply saddening, and it is this situation that
came to my mind while writing this little sermon.

Today’s gospel tells of Jesus going into the temple precincts, taking some sort of a
cord whip and in anger driving out the money changers and those who were selling
small doves for the sacrifices. Why did he do this? Any money given to the temple
had to be in Hebrew coins. So those who had Roman coins or any other coins had
to change their money into Hebrew coins. And the money changers charged
interest for this exchange, which was absolutely forbidden by Jewish Law. The rich
people would bring their own animals for the sacrifices that were offered to God.
But the poor people could only afford to buy small birds for the sacrifice, and there
were sellers of these little birds just outside of the temple. It is this situation that
provoked Jesus’ anger, that these money changers and sellers of birds to be
sacrificed were defiling the Temple itself and were making a mockery of the
sacrifices offered to God. Of course, the supreme irony is that it is Jesus himself
who would offer the supreme sacrifice, not by the priests in the temple, but by his
death on the Cross outside the city of Jerusalem itself. And the temple was
destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

One must ask if those Anglican bishops who hire out their cathedrals for raves to
raise money for the operation and repair of these places that were consecrated as
holy places so that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass could be offered there: one must
ask if they remember the cleansing of the temple by Christ, and if they do, do they
care?