Gospel Reflection on John 2:13-22

November 9, 2025

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for thy house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

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November is the 'we remember' month. November also poses the question, 'can we live a

fully human life without some belief in the resurrection?' I think it's impossible.

For two reasons. First of all, every time we expend ourselves in service of others, we are in a sense of losing our lives. If we didn't believe that what we're doing has some value past this moment, then we would be reduced to doing such good deeds out of some forced act of the will.

Secondly, it makes a huge difference unconsciously as to how restless or peaceful we are. Whether we believe in life after death or not, colors how we feel a minute to minute inside

our daily lives. When we no longer believe in a life after death, we will in one way or the other put unfair pressure on this life. If, for example, we don't believe in life after death and don't view our lives against the horizon of something eternal, how do we keep the demons of restlessness, disappointment, sadness, jealousy, self-pity and cynicism at bay? If this life alone has to carry everything, if this moment alone has to define our whole lives, how tragic it is to be poor, to lack opportunity, to not be healthy, to lack the talent to express ourselves. If we had no future hope, how tragic it is to have been the victim of some accident, to have been abused, to be wounded, to be less than whole. If we have no hope in the resurrection, how tragic it would be to be caught up in a history that limits our freedom.

Today we also remember parish church in Rome, St. John Lateran. It is often seen as our mother church and its construction points out how we need to always see beyond what is before us. Its baptistry incorporates stone pillars which once served the murderous Caesar and now welcomes Christians in baptism. Bronze pillars next to the altar were used by Caesar Augustus to announce his empire and now they announce the merciful welcome of God.

These recycled pillars remind us that the conditions that wear us down today do change and that the future is not determined by the present.

There is no other horizon outside of eternity against which we can view the human condition in a way that doesn't produce restlessness, disappointment, sadness, bitterness.

Our lives are better understood and more peacefully lived when they are viewed against an eternal horizon against an afterlife.

Because only the infinite can provide the depth and hope to allow us to see and value the present moment. But belief in the life after this one isn't meant to make us live in fear of hell or in the childish hope that if we're good we'll get a reward for it after we die.

Belief in life after death is meant to give us a proper vision so that we can enjoy the real joys of this life without perpetually crucifying ourselves because they and we aren't perfect.