In today’s gospel, we hear the account of Jesus cleansing the Temple area where the moneychangers and vendors were. He was angered because this house of prayer was becoming a marketplace.
In experiencing Jesus doing what he did, it made the disciples think of Psalm 69:
“Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Zeal is having great enthusiasm about something or being determined to do something. For Jesus his zeal was for the place where God was prayed to and honored. And for so many of us here at St. Hubert, zeal is what drives us to focus on our parish and church where we discover God alive in our lives.
What drives our parish—our zeal—is the desire to build a community centered on Christ so that we are empowered to live the Gospel as disciples. And it’s happening.
Take a look at the zeal that has driven our parishioners just within the last week or so:
A big thank you to the Stewards who organized the Parish Bowling Party last Sunday—a way to bring the community and families together. It was really a great time with almost 150 parishioners enjoying the event. (I’m not going to reveal my score, but let’s just say no one invited me onto their league!)
Last Sunday, the Prayer Shawl Ministry gave away 18 homemade shawls—one of the most fruitful weekends in a long time. This really is a labor of love—a zeal to do something for others. The crafters pray as they knit or crochet the shawls. When they finish, they offer them to us to use for ourselves or to give to someone we know could use it. The shawl is a sign of prayer, comfort and God’s care. Prayer shawls are available at any time and are not sold—they’re freely given. If you’d like to pick one up to give to someone you think could use it (even yourself), please stop by the parish office during business hours and we’ll help you select one.
A couple of weeks ago, one of our parishioners volunteered to repair broken Rosaries. He also said he’d take it upon himself to send any donated rosaries to the missions. This past week he mailed a package of rosaries to The Family Rosary Mission in North Easton, MA—weighing five pounds! If you’d like to donate used rosaries to the missions or have a rosary repaired, you can drop them off at the ministry counter in the Narthex.
Some parishioners have said it would be great if we had a Spring Cleaning Day to get the church ready for Easter. What a great way to show zeal for this church we love very much. We’re in the planning stages and will follow up shortly.
These are a few examples; there are many more. It’s great to see the zeal for our own house of prayer, which is a sign that the gospel has taken root in our lives.
May God continue to strengthen us on our journey toward Easter.