“You are a temple of God; the spirit of God dwells within you.”
1 Cor 3:16
The Second Vatican
Council in the 1960s introduced many changes in the way Catholics worship.
Perhaps the most significant change was turning the altar around and having the
priest face the people. By that change the Council reminded us that God isn't
somewhere way out there but right here in our midst.
Vatican II showed us that the foundation of our faith does
not rest on a temporary and transient structure but on the permanent essence of
Christ present among and within us. You and I and each of our brothers and
sisters is indeed a Temple of God.
In next Sunday’s first
reading the prophet Ezekiel gets an early and front row seat for that lesson.
The Israelites of the Old Testament saw the Temple as God’s permanent dwelling
place. When that Temple was destroyed during the Babylonian invasion, it was
devastating for them.
But in the midst of
that devastation, God's angel showed Ezekiel a vision of new life and abundance.
He sees that the destruction of the Temple was not the end of God's presence
among us but rather the beginning. In Ezekiel’s vision, the deserted site where
the Temple once stood is being filled with abundant life-giving water by the
Holy Spirit.
Saint Paul affirms this
lesson in Sunday's second reading. He asks the Corinthians, and through them
us, a powerful question: “Do you not know that you are a Temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwells within you?”
Saint Paul tells us
that we are each a new Temple. This new Temple is not out there; it is the
presence Christ within us. We don’t need bricks and mortar, just faith.
God is truly present
within each person, and each person is truly a Temple of God. When we
disrespect the presence of God in another person through lying or cheating or
exclusion or bigotry or meanness, we are disrespecting God. We become
like the moneychangers in Sunday's gospel; we make the house of God not only
into a marketplace but into a circus.
As
we attend church to worship in a physical temple, let us acknowledge and
celebrate that the presence of Christ is not locked away somewhere out there in
bricks and mortar but present in each and every one of us and within our
neighbor. And let us recommit to love and forgive and accept each other as God
loves and forgives and accepts us.
………………………………………………………………………………..
Readers
of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on
Amazon.com:
Just to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday
Life
Synchronicity as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for
Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Ministry
http://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-Work-Holy-Spirit-Spiritual/dp/1463518781/
