ENOUGH OF THIS
I’ve always loved Holy Monday. It’s not the most talked-about day in Holy Week, but it’s one of the most powerful.
On this day, Jesus enters Jerusalem and heads straight for the temple. What he finds there disturbs him. The temple, a space that was designed to be a spiritual sanctuary — a house of prayer — has been turned into a marketplace. Merchants and money-changers are exploiting people who have come in good faith, ready to offer what little they have in reverence to God. But instead of being met with grace, they’re being manipulated. Overcharged. Taken advantage of.
Jesus doesn’t quietly accept it. He doesn’t ignore it. He doesn’t whisper about it later. He flips tables. He clears the space. He calls it out.
He says: “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:13)
In today’s terms, Jesus said, enough of this! Jesus’ righteous indignation in that moment reminds us that we are enough. And sacred spaces are worth protecting.
As a pastor, I see the parallels all the time. We live in a culture that often demands more than we can give. We are praised for overworking, guilted into overspending, and taught that rest must be earned. Even in spiritual spaces, people are often told — subtly or directly — that their prayers, their presence, or their offerings aren’t enough unless they look a certain way, sound a certain way, or come with a certain price tag.
But Jesus challenges that thinking. He disrupts it. He reclaims the temple for what it was always meant to be — a place for communion, for connection, for care. Not commerce. Not exploitation.
It reminds me of Grace Byers’ beautiful children’s book, I Am Enough. Though written for young readers, its message is universal. In one stanza, she writes:
Like the sun, I’m here to shine.
Like the bird, I’m here to fly.
Like the heart, I’m here to love.
Like the air, to rise above.
These simple affirmations echo something sacred: creation doesn’t second-guess itself. The sun doesn’t audition to shine. Birds don’t apologize for soaring. And we, too, don’t need to prove ourselves in order to take up space or be seen as valuable.
Wellness begins with that understanding. That you are already enough. Not when you hit the next milestone. Not when you lose the weight. Not when you land the job. Now. As you are.
When Jesus flipped those tables, he wasn’t just clearing out a room. He was clearing out a mindset — one that tells us we have to earn our worth, and that we must perform to be accepted. That our sacred offering isn’t enough.
Holy Monday invites us to flip a few tables in our own lives. To remove what no longer serves us. To restore the spaces — physical, emotional, spiritual — to what they were created to be. To reclaim our temples.
Because prayer is enough. Presence is enough. You are enough. And sometimes the most faithful witness in Holy Week is to simply say: “Enough of this.” If Jesus wouldn’t stand for this, neither will I.
REV. DR. GABBY CUDJOE WILKES
Reverend Dr. Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes is the founding-co lead pastor of The Double Love Experience Church in Brooklyn, New York, The Founding Director of The Technology, Innovation and Digital Engagement Lab Fellowship at Union Theological Seminary, and the co-author of The Bestselling Book: Psalms for Black Lives: Reflections for the Work of Liberation. Her work has been featured in Essence, Forbes & The New York Times. Dr. Gabby is the President of The Yale University Divinity School alumni board, a member of the Morehouse College Board of Preachers, and a recurring on-air contributor to the nationally syndicated morning show, Get Up Mornings with Erica Campbell.
She holds a doctorate from Duke University, a Masters of Divinity from Yale University, a Master of Arts from NYU and a Bachelors from Hampton University. Dr. Gabby is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and is committed to the work of love and justice. She resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Rev. Andrew Wilkes.