I have always been fascinated by the image of Jesus in today’s Gospel. As a lover of reality television, I relished in the idea of him being so upset he shouted and flipped tables. We are so used to seeing Jesus as a calm and peaceful presence that his reaction seems somewhat out of character. He certainly had his reasons; he had a pressing message to share and needed everyone to pay attention. Jesus’ emotions reveal how he inhabited the totality of the human experience and allows me permission to examine my own anger and use it to make change.
I don’t like to feel angry, and I don’t imagine many people do (sorry if you’ve had a boss who proves that theory otherwise!). I really admire Jesus for immediately confronting the recipients of his anger. More often than not, I bottle up my anger, which inevitably causes me to explode and say things to people I love that I don’t really mean.
There are serious issues in this world that should make me angry though. I am outraged, as Jesus was, by war, poverty, and injustice throughout the world. I look to Jesus to validate my emotion and not let it fester into apathy and inaction. I pray for the strength to confront the powerful and the unmoved who perpetuate the suffering of the marginalized and continue the conditions that made Jesus angry in his time. I hope for a future where all know they are welcome and belong in the temple of the risen Christ.
Victoria Garcia, MA’18
Victoria Garcia, MA’18 is the assistant director of Intersections at Boston College. She received a master’s degree in higher education from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. She is passionate about working with faculty and staff to provide college students transformative college experiences through the context of the Jesuit, Catholic mission. Victoria was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, grew up in Miami, Florida, and now lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with her husband and their one-year-old son.