All of our lives we are invited into a deeper relationship with Jesus, the better to live 

lives as Christians. We are called to hear 

his words and observe his actions in order 

to emulate him in our own lives. And what 

do we know about Jesus? He is the radical peacemaker. He tells us to love our enemies, 

to turn the other cheek, to lay down our lives 

for others.

So in today's Gospel it is shocking to see 

Jesus angry. Anger is such a deeply human emotion and yet because it is Jesus, we 

know that there is also a divine anger at 

hand here. It gives us permission to be 

angry.

Why is Jesus angry in this Gospel passage? 

He is angry because what is holy, what is 

a sacred place, is not being reverenced. 

He is angry because the people present 

lack all reverence for what is holy in their 

midst.

When we think of our lives today - March 8, 

2015, International Women's Day - when 

are we angry? Where is there a lack of 

reverence for what God deems as holy? 

Where do we lack reverence? And what 

could be more holy in God's eyes than all of creation, the earth, humankind?

We are called in this Gospel today and 

every day to never be apathetic, to always 

be angry when we see that what is holy is compromised. We are called to be angry 

when the dignity of people is compromised. 

We are called to be angry when there 

is sexism in the world or in the Church. We 

are called to be angry when our sisters and 

brothers live in extreme poverty, the result 

of unjust structures that we can remedy. 

It should make us furious that women and 

children- the most vulnerable- are dispro-

portionately affected by poverty, war, violence, disease. We should be angry 

when whole generations are being raised 

in refugee camps. We should be angry when children do not have access to education, 

or food, or water, or healthcare. We should be 

angry when sexual abuse and violence is 

still so prevalent in every part of the world, 

and that rape is a weapon of war. We should 

be angry when young girls are kidnapped 

and sold into slavery. We should be angry 

that in 2015 human trafficking is a very real, collective sin.

Our invitation today is to claim that anger, 

and in emulating Christ, to turn that anger 

into opportunities for action to reverence 

what God holds dear, what God sees as 

holy and sacred. And that is surely the 

very lives of people. Today in a preferential 

way let us uphold and promote the dignity 

and full participation of all women and girls in 

the world and in the Church.

Come to the table of the Eucharist and 

pray for the grace to never be apathetic 

when what is sacred is being desecrated. 

Pray for the grace to always have the strength 

and sustenance to reverence what God 

sees as holy and, as Christ did, to act on 

that with the whole of your life.