We must purify ourself by casting out from our midst all which is found to be evil and all which is filled with wickedness. Jesus reminds us of this fact in our Gospel when He casts out from the temple all those who refused to except God into their life and thus too placed obstacles in the way of others.
Saint Paul pointed to this fact in his letter to the Corinthians where he stated: “let no temptation take hold on you.” The merchants who were found within our Gospel had allowed temptation to take hold over them and thus it began to possess them. Through their greed and wickedness they took advantage of people’s love for God through the inflation of that which they sold. They were corrupted in doing so and thus they began to loose sight of God.
It is easy to grow lax in our practice of faith and thus to allow sin to take ahold of us. Vice is not made over night, but it takes time. The more we commit a sin and give ourself the excuse to do it again the easier it becomes to commit that sin. Before we know it one is lost in their practice of sin. In this individual we often see the failure to rationalize as they end up doing this action as if it is normal.
We must realize that we have to do battle over sin daily and thus we must be prepared for the spiritual warfare that we must face. Temptation is very real, but it is not something that we have to give into. Our temptations can be resisted, but if this is to happen we must not practice vice. Instead we must practice virtue and thus we must set our sight upon God. The merchants within the temple failed to set their sight upon God. Instead they turned inwardly upon themselves and their desire to amass more wealth.
Satan is never quiet, but we can be assured that he never tells us the truth. He is the father of lies after all. He has no power over God and the graces which are poured out upon us through the gift which is the Church. We cannot grow lax in our practice of faith nor in our practice of devotions because doing so would leave us weakened in the midst of this spiritual warfare. From 1st Peter: “Stay sober and alert your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour resist him solid in your faith.”
Therefore be strengthened through confession and make sure to receive Holy Communion in the state of grace. Receiving Holy Communion is not a laughing matter because it is the sin of sacrilege if one does so in the state of mortal sin. Prevail yourself to devotions such as the breviary, the Holy Rosary, or even the brown scapular. Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel which calls to mind the brown scapular. So often I hear Catholics mock this devotion as being superstition, but Saint Alphonsus Ligori states: “Modern heretics make a mockery of wearing the Scapular, they decry it as so much trifling nonsense.”
Saint John Paul II stated of the scapular that by wearing we are making a habit for ourself which is modeled after the habits of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Who can argue with this because Mary leads the way towards her Son. We build up so many habits which detract from our relationship with God, but rather we should allow the Blessed Virgin Mary to assist us in building up habits which glorify God.
