On this Sunday, we hear in the first reading the all too familiar Ten Commandments and in the Gospel the also very familiar story of John’s account of Jesus expelling the merchants and money changers from the Temple precinct.
As the first reading was being proclaimed, it is easy to think of all the “Golden Images” we like to display as our gods in our present time. As human beings we are easily distracted from God, as the human made Golden Images proliferate our lives. It is equally easy to think of how many of the the other commandments are unceremoniously dismissed or at which we scoff with derision as being outdated modes of conduct. When we take time to examine the ten commandments, we must look deeper to the implications to what happens to human lives when these commandments are violated. How, without this guide to our lives, human lives would be rendered chaotic and unable to sustain both life physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Were all these commandments ignored, human life would be unlivable.
As the Gospel was proclaimed, we can also easily think of all the ways our religious institutions are in a great need of cleansing. The trappings of wealth and power are a major obstacle to the spirituality of all our religious institutions regardless of the religious traditions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other world religions. The trappings of religious institutions, and the behaviors of religious leaders to whom we give a demigod status can impede our own growth in spirituality.
Both of these readings force us to reflect on the choices that are at our disposal. We can, as Bill Maher regularly does, mock and hold all religion as foolish mythology meant to dull and control groups of people. We can also sit in judgment on human religious institutions demanding that they be “cleansed” of all the folly, the prejudices, and corruption that the humanity within the religious institutions cause.
However, in our listening to these readings today, we also have one other choice, that of using the ten commandments to examine our own lives and those which present a challenge to us, and cleanse ourselves of those behaviors that negatively impact the lives of those we love and those we encounter.
It is so easy, like the Flip Wilson character, Geraldine, to say, “The devil made me do it.” and so, avoid taking responsibility for the negative actions our lives cause others. Blaming others for our negative behaviors is just a “cop out” and we continue to commit actions that our harmful to others and to ourselves. It is equally as harmful to self-flagellate ourselves, like the Opus Dei monk does in the movie, The Da Vinci Code, to rid ourselves of our negative behaviors.
Rather, I suggest a truthful and less violent way to cleanse our own “temples” in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Ignatius of Loyola, a saint within the Roman Catholic tradition, gifted the religious order he began and the Catholic Church with a simple tool of metanoia (daily conversion of our lives to God). It is called the Daily Examen. This is a prayer reflection done preferably at the end of our day. It has six steps.
- Become aware of God’s presence.
- Review the day with gratitude. Walk through the day in the presence of God and note its joys and delights.
- Pay attention to your emotions. Reflect on the feelings you experienced during the day. Ask what God is saying through these feelings.
- Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to something during the day that God thinks is particularly important. It may be a vivid moment or something that seem insignificant.
- Look toward tomorrow. Ask God to give you light for tomorrow’s challenges.
- End the Examen with a conversation with Jesus. Ask forgiveness for your sins. Ask for his protection and help. Ask for his wisdom about the question you have and the problems you face. And, do all this in the spirit of gratitude.
As individuals, we don’t have a great deal of control over the cleansing of our institutions, political and religious. However, we do have control over the cleansing of ourselves. In the simple steps of the Daily Examen, we are able, with the help of God, to cleanse ourselves of those behaviors that have a negative impact on the lives of those we love and the lives of others. Our own personal cleansing is the important first step toward the collective cleansing of the other institutions of our lives.
