The story is told about an employer who told an applicant: “There are two important rules to follow in this company. Let me start with the second rule, which is cleanliness. Did you wipe your feet on the door mat in front of my office?” The applicant said: “Yes, sir!” Whereupon the employer said: “That brings me to the first rule in our company, and that is… honesty. There is no door mat in front of my office.”
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In today’s Gospel (Jn. 2, 13-25), Jesus cleansed the temple area of vendors, moneychangers, and even temple authorities who had made a marketplace out of His Father’s house. Jesus risked His life and limb, His name and His fame to set things right. Here was a man who favored no one in His quest for godliness and righteousness. Neither fear nor favor could stop Him from proclaiming the kingdom of God. What zeal! What courage!
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The world has become one big marketplace. Money has become the No. 1 preoccupation of so many of us. That is our reality. But we must affirm, and get the message across, that money is not everything, and that there are indeed many things which money cannot buy. This would be like a small voice in the desert perhaps, but still, it is a voice that we must continue to raise. We need someone like Jesus who can cleanse our nation of people who have made our government a marketplace.
Money has become the bottom line for public service, so much so that we ask: Would people still go into politics or government service if there were no monetary benefits involved? Perhaps what we need is a cleansing not only of personalities but of systems and traditions as well.
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We also need cleansing in the Church, and Pope Francis is right on track with his message of simplicity, of honesty and of bringing the Church to the peripheries. It is not an easy task, and the obstacles are plenty. It is not easy to make people go beyond their comfort zones, leave familiar shores, and venture into new ways and means of seeing and doing things. I wonder what the apostles did when Jesus started to overturn the tables of the moneychangers? Did they help Jesus cleanse the temple area, or did they just stand and stare, or worse, run away in anonymity for their own safety? What would you have done if you were there? What would you do if someone like Jesus would emerge in our present day? Would you stay with Him, or run away?
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We must continuously cleanse ourselves of our marketplace mentality. We easily get preoccupied with and burdened by money matters. At such times we must be compelled to see the big picture, and trust in God who provides. Let us also be careful that we do not make money our god, so much so that it destroys our peace of mind, health, good name and relationships. Let us not become slaves to money. Let us use money for our salvation, not our condemnation.
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I have met people who are moneyed and flaunt it. And I have met some who have money, but don’t make a fuss about it. The marketplace mentality has set into your mind when you begin to see yourself in terms of how much money you have, and see others in the same terms. The marketplace mentality has truly settled when you begin to use the power of money as a means of controlling people—buying their services, attention, and, yes, even their love. The marketplace mentality has really sunk in when you begin to think that you can manipulate even God, and bargain with Him, or buy eternity with your money.
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The Federation of Filipino-Chinese Catholic Women’s Organizations had a convention in Tuguegarao City this weekend with the theme “Women as Evangelizers of the Poor.” This group, headed by Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian, SVD, DD, of the diocese of Abra, seeks to make God present in the marketplace; it asserts the Christian values of honesty and integrity and a sense of mission in its business and investment ventures. Let us bring God back into the marketplace. Whatever is our “marketplace,” let us make room for God to come in, and let Him cleanse us, guide us and direct us.
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The Honesty Store in Batanes is a statement that it is possible to concretize the basic goodness and honesty in each of us. It all started with a couple’s desire to help people crossing by boat from Sabtang and Ivana by providing coffee and hot water at any time of the day. Since the couple had their own work, too, they left it to the people to pay for whatever they used. And that’s how the store operates nowadays: Just get what you need, and leave the money.
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Let us pray that as we grow older, we may have less of the marketplace mentality, and live more meaningful and significant lives. There can be no real peace if we do not learn to let go and to let God. Our Mama has shown us the way to grow old gracefully, and that is by taking the road of humility, hiddenness, prayer, sacrifice and much love.
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By the way, we do not call ourselves “senior citizens” anymore. Rather, we call ourselves the “HA Generation” (because whenever somebody says something, we react by saying “Ha?”). We also call ourselves the “HIGH Generation” (high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, high maintenance). Yes, let humor remove our marketplace mentality!
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Couples who are having marital problems and singles who would like to avoid the unconscious attraction to “Mr. Wrong” are invited to attend the next Psychogenetics-Gestalt Seminar on March 14-15. For details, please contact Ed (09178360305), Harry (09178410398), or Angie (09178092849).
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, lead me out of the marketplace mentality, and lead me into quality-time and payback-time mentality. Amen.