I’ve always found this image unsettling. This week I thought I’d break with tradition (or at least the last 7 years of daily photos) and posts will feature the events of each day of Holy Week. Today we remember Jesus cleansing the temple, turning over the tables of those who bought, sold and changed money, and proclaiming the temple will be a house of prayer. This is The Angry Christ by the Philippine artist Leno Pontebon. At the time of painting, the Philippine economy relied on exports such as sugar, mostly to the USA. The sugar was used for ice cream, soft drinks etc.  Many of the 7000 or so islands making up the Philippines would grow cane for export. However, when the market for cane dropped due to synthetic sugars flooding the market, many farmers were left destitute. On one island alone 250,000 farmers were thrown out of work and were prevented from growing subsidence crops where the sugar grew. Famine and death followed. The income from exports goes to pay off interest on debts of many billions, mostly to the USA, and so debts increased. And so Pontebon painted this version of Christ, with the shocking famine & debt crisis in mind, reflecting the Jesus who turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple.