Lent 3
Collects
Merciful Lord, Grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1: 18-25
John 2: 13-22
Is anger ever justifiable? Clearly it must be – we have Jesus’ example in today’s Gospel – anger at those who have turned religious adherence into a business opportunity, selling animals for sacrifice and changing money, taking profit from the exchange. Jesus’ angry response prompts the onlookers to think again and validate or reject His action.
Unfortunately, in most cases, anger is a negative and unhelpful; allowing the emotion to surface results in distress and hurt. How can we differentiate between positive and negative reactions? To understand why we are angry, we need to look at its cause – its ‘triggers’ – aggression, jealousy, frustration, insecurity, guilt, threat and many others among them. When Jesus sees what is happening in the Temple courtyard, He sees corruption taking the place of worship; human values taking the place of the values of the Kingdom. There is no love in the place from which love comes, and He is as wounded as He will be when the nails are hammered into His hands. His anger is driven by disappointment and grief in the face of the rejection of His Father’s love.
And what of our anger? Is it based on injury to self? Injury to others? Or injury to love, to forgive, to serve? Can we defend it at the foot of the Kingly throne? Ultimately, as in many other situations, we must see through the eyes of Christ – and in them we will know whether our angry response can be justified. Only then can we rationally decide our action – action based on blind anger is unlikely to be the answer. Simple as it may seem, counting to ten is usually a good idea…
Previous Posts
Praying Together 28th September 2025
I hope and pray that I shall leave the world in a better place than I entered it, otherwise I shall have wasted the opportunity to live in freedom of body and soul as a disciple of Christ.
Praying Together 21st September 2025
‘…make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes…’
Praying Together 14th September 2025
It didn’t matter what you had been, said or done – like Paul, you were given the chance to repent.
Praying Together 7th September 2025
So, if we truly offer Him everything, does that leave us with nothing? Quite the opposite. When we give our life to Jesus, it includes the bad bits as well as the good bits.
Praying Together 31st August 2025
The heavenly banquet has only one rule of etiquette – That you accept Jesus , the Christ, as Saviour and Redeemer. And then your place and theirs is at the head of His table, alongside Him.
Praying Together 24th August 2025
Salvation does not ever come through religious practice – it comes through Christ, the only sinless one, whose sacrifice is given as a free gift in love, to those who can’t help themselves.
Paying Together 17th August 2025
We ask that our faith is strengthened in the power of the Spirit when it is tested – and that we will have the courage to live as the Body of Christ, who alone offers life.
Praying Together 10th August 2025
And while we think of the things we value most, do we remember that we are of such value to God, that His Son was prepared to go into the flames for us?
Praying Together 27th July 2025
In a word, it is all prayer, a rich sequence, choreographed in different moments of gathering, praise, listening and communion.
Praying Together 20th July 2025
Jesus comes to us in many ways and with many faces. Are we aware we may ‘entertain Angels without knowing it?
Praying Together 13th July 2025
May we never miss meeting your gaze,
in the eyes of our sibling, the stranger.
Praying Together 6th July 2025
Always remember that ‘success’ is simply doing His will – it’s not necessarily achieving the outcome we would ourselves consider to be ‘successful’. Leave that definition with Him.