HOLY MONDAY

The Tables Turned, The Grief That Grows

Scripture for the Day

“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.”
—Matthew 21:12

Sacred Invitation

There is a kind of grief that turns tables.

The gentle healer walks into the Temple—
and his silence becomes a shout.
Not because he has lost control,
but because he has always seen clearly.
And what he sees now
breaks his heart wide open.

This place was meant to be a house of prayer.
A place for the poor.
A refuge for the weary.
A home for the seeker.

But instead—
he finds profit, performance,
and people pushing out the ones who most need to come in.

This is not the moment we expect
from the Jesus who washes feet,
who lets children climb into his lap.

But maybe this is still love—
a love that cannot bear injustice,
a love that confronts corruption with courage.

This is not rage for rage’s sake.
This is holy grief.
And it overturns everything.

Daily Reflection

Holy Monday teaches us
that love does not always whisper.
Sometimes it flips tables.
Sometimes it interrupts the performance
and says, “Not here. Not like this.”

What in you needs to be overturned?

What places in your own heart
have grown too comfortable with distraction,
with convenience,
with systems that serve self over Spirit?

The road to the cross is not quiet.
It begins with confrontation—
with clarity that costs something.

But it is always love that leads the way.

Somatic Practice: Clearing the Table

Take a small space in your home—a shelf, a desk, a table.
Clear it.
Wipe it down slowly.
Let the act be mindful.
Breathe as you move your hands.

As you do, pray: “Let what is unholy be removed from the center.”
“Let this be a place of presence again.”

Then place one simple item back:
a candle, a cross, a stone, a sprig of green.
Something to remind you
that what is sacred is often small.

Let your body feel the movement of clearing space.
Let it be a practice of courage.
Of re-centering.
Of returning.

Closing Prayer

O Christ,
Turn over what needs turning.
Not in anger,
but in the grief of a love that longs
for what is true.

Clear the temple of my heart.
Drive out distraction.
Banish the noise.
Sweep away the things
that keep me from your presence.

Make space again
for prayer.
For stillness.
For the ache that listens.
For the justice that begins in quiet rooms.

And let me love you—
even when your love disrupts.

Amen.