Sunday 9^th November – Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Reflection: 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11, 16-17

DESECRATE NOT THIS TEMPLE

Out of love and reverence for God, King David desired to build the first befitting place of worship for the Lord (2 Samuel 7: 1-17), however God indicated that his son and heir to his throne, Solomon would build him a temple. The temple held a very significant place in the life and worship of the Jews as is attested to in today’s readings.

In the light of Christian faith, the temple takes up a deeper meaning beyond the physical edifice erected across a landscape; it represents the totality of the human person – the complete union of the spirit, soul and body. This was the crux of the Jews’ misunderstanding of Christ in today’s gospel reading (John 2: 13-22). Through our baptism, we have entered into a new and everlasting covenant with God by which His spirit dwells in us. This makes us “mobile or dynamic temples” of God within which He must perpetually be honoured, worshipped and glorified (John 4: 20-24; Hebrews 8: 7-11; Romans 8: 9-14).

Beloved, do you daily make efforts to make your body a befitting abode for Christ or do you rather desecrate it through deliberate sinful deeds? Indecent dressing, sexual immorality, gluttony, drunkenness, drug abuse, envy, jealousy, unforgiveness, backbiting, gossip, pride and lying are some of the sins that readily pollute our minds and bodies. The reaction of Christ to the unholy use of the temple in Jerusalem still remains the same when He sees us deploy His temple (our minds and bodies) to unholy ventures.

Shall we heed the warnings of St Paul – “If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred; and YOU are that temple”? Let us cooperate with Christ, allowing Him to cleanse us of all that pollutes His abode in us so that our lives may better glorify him.

PRAYER: My dear Father and King, I offer myself as a holy abode for you; please come and reign in me. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 120 – What does the Holy Spirit do in my life?

The Holy Spirit makes me receptive to God; he teaches me to pray and helps me to be there for others.

Augustine calls the Holy Spirit “The quiet guest of our soul”. Our body is therefore God’s living room, so to speak. The more receptive we are to the Holy Spirit in us, the more he becomes the master of our life, the sooner he will bestow on us even today his charisms for the upbuilding of the Church. And so, instead of the works of the flesh, the fruits of the Spirit grow in us.

HIDE A TREASURE: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 RSV-CE

Readings for Today: Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12; Psalm 46: 2-9; 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11, 16-17; John 2: 13-22