God: "I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other Gods besides me" (Exodus).
Jesus: "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace" (John 2).
He had found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as money changers. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, and spilled the coins of the money changers.
This incident calls us to reflect on our own lives, and what fills in the spaces that belong to God.
The COVID 19 epidemic put the whole world on pause. We know that a major outcome of this pause was the extended amount of time individuals had to experience a "pause" on the frantic pace of life that had become the norm. Spaces opened up: for conversation, for relationships, for community - though it was perhaps only with the nuclear family, or spouse, or partner, or religious community - and for God.
There is a general reluctancy in the world to let go of those spaces.
Lent is a perfect time to "pause" and reflect on what might be filling the spaces the belong to God, let go of those things, and "return to God with all your heart."