• Jesus was angry with the merchants in the temple because they were cheating the people. Have you ever been cheated? How did that make you feel?
• Jesus was also angry because the merchants were robbing the people of the opportunity to worship and pray. Have you ever been distracted in prayer? What did you do to push away the distractions?
• Everything that Jesus says is important, but sometimes the people in the story don’t understand what he means. For example, in today’s Gospel, the people didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." What do you do when you don’t understand something that Jesus says?

Scrutiny Discussion Questions:

• What was it like for the Samaritan woman to meet Jesus?
• What is the “living water” that Jesus talks about?
• In what way did Jesus change the Samaritan woman’s life?

God Made vs. Human Made

We hear in today’s Gospel about what people have made (the temple) and what originates from God (Jesus). This game is a fun and easy way to teach young children about God as creator and giver of all good gifts. Point to an object and ask, “human-made or God-made?” Children are then invited to respond. This game is a lot of fun and can lead to many teachable moments. For example, is a car human-made or God-made? A car is human-made but God gave the human the intelligence and creativity to design it and the strength and diligence to assemble it. Isn’t God good?

Righteous Anger

In today’s Gospel, Jesus expressed anger to convey his displeasure over abuses in the temple. As followers of Christ, it is appropriate for us too to get angry over sin. Evils such as abuse, racism, pornography, etc. should incense us. This prayer will help to transform righteous anger into peace.

God of righteous anger and holy healing,
We pray for our world
and for people who have been hurt by members of the Church.
We ask for accountability, change and healing.
God of Peace,
We pray for our world
where war has become a way of life.
We pray for reconciliation and your peace that surpasses all understanding.
God of Creation,
We pray for our world
For ocean and mountain, hill and vale, forest and meadow
and for all the creatures with which we share
this beautiful creation.
We pray for wisdom that we may be faithful and humble
stewards of this beautiful planet.
God of Love,
We pray for our hearts
And all that we hold dear
Family and friends,
Work and rest and play.
We pray for joy and compassion that we may live and share your love.
Amen.

Adapted from: https://worshipwords.co.uk/god...

In the time of Jesus, the temple was the most important of Jewish buildings because God was present there in a special way. Today, Jesus is present in a special way in the Eucharist, which is reserved in the tabernacle. Find the tabernacle in your church.

Today's Gospel invites us to reflect on

the quality of our worship and prayer at home. Create and decorate a prayer

space in your home that is dedicated to prayer and worship of God. Invite

family members to use this space throughout the week and beyond.

The Jerusalem temple was divided into several courts. The outermost court, open to non-Jewish pilgrims, was used to for selling sacrificial animals and exchanging foreign currency for the appropriate coins needed to pay the temple tax.