The Gospels tell us, albeit with some variation in the time line, that the first thing Jesus did after entering Jerusalem, was that he went to the temple courtyard and upon seeing the moneychangers and purveyors of sacrifices to be purchased, he overturned their tables exclaiming that his house should be a house or prayer, not of thieves.
The temple leadership was furious because they got a cut of the profits. Why the need for moneychangers? Because in order to contribute to the temple, one needed coins not with the image of Caesar, which is what people used outside the temple. Now the White House is now substituting the signature of the President for the Treasurer of the United States, Brandon Beach, a Presidential appointee who oversees the Mint.
Add to that the commemorative 24-karat gold coin bearing a portrait of the President, glowering over his desk with an eagle on the back, and one could ask what is going on? It will not be used to buy anything – except favors, perhaps. Its intrinsic value will be the price of gold. Wonder what Jesus would say to all this.
Prayer for the Day
Watching and waiting, we look for you, O God,
But you do not come to us as we expect;
Unable to see you in the halls of the powerful,
We go to the streets among the people to search for you.
Open our eyes, O Lord, so we can see where you are,
For you elude us and we stumble in darkness.
In the name of the One who is the light,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Silence becomes cowardice when the occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
The strongest bulwark of authority is uniformity; the least divergence from it is the greatest crime.
Emma Goldman, Russian-born activist, deported 1920 (1869-1940)
Then Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling prescribed offerings, and he said, and it is written,
My house shall be a house of prayer
but you have made it a den of robbers.”
Luke 19: 45-46