Biblepics

“The Zeal of the Kingdom Within”

Brothers, today’s Gospel places us in the Temple at Jerusalem, where Jesus, moved by holy zeal, drives out the money changers and overturns the tables. “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” The disciples recalled the words of Scripture: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (Ps 69:9).

This moment reveals the fire of God’s Kingdom breaking into human history. The Temple, long seen as the dwelling place of the Most High, is now purified and redefined in Christ. His body becomes the true Temple, and by baptism and grace, that same presence now dwells within us. The Kingdom of God is no longer confined to walls of stone, it lives and breathes within the human heart.

For us as deacons, and for the men discerning the call to serve, this Gospel is not about destruction but transformation - an integration of the grace of ordination that orders and unites every dimension of our lives. It shapes us as husbands, fathers, grandfathers, and always as deacons. The cleansing Christ performs in the Temple mirrors the inner renewal we experience when the Holy Spirit reclaims every part of our lives for God’s purpose. Jesus does not abolish the Temple; He restores it to its sacred meaning. Likewise, we are called to let His grace bring wholeness; to make our families, workplaces, and communities extensions of that living Temple.

As we prepare for SEEK 2026 and renew our push for vocations, this passage speaks powerfully: the man discerning the diaconate must first allow Christ to cleanse and reorder his own inner temple. Only then can he become a vessel through which others encounter God’s mercy and truth. The zeal of Jesus becomes the model for every servant of the Kingdom; a zeal not born of anger, but of love that cannot tolerate anything that obscures God’s glory.

Wisdom today reminds us that the Spirit is “holy, subtle, and all-pervading.” That same Spirit purifies and renews, moving through our words, our service, and our witness. The world may see the Church as structure or system, but through our lives, we reveal her as living temple, built of men and women who burn with zeal for God’s dwelling among His people.

Brothers, may Christ find in each of us a cleansed and ready temple. And may those we encounter in and out of our parish's, through opportunities at SEEK and beyond come to see, through our humble service, that the Kingdom of God has already entered the world - alive, radiant, and dwelling within them.

In Christ the Servant + Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Receive + Believe + Teach + Practice