"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)

Jn 2:13-22

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there.He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said,"Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace. "His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?"Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. "The Jews said,"This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days? "But he was speaking about the temple of his Body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

Saint Paul uses a specific comparison to describe the community of believers: If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (1 Cor 3:17). The temple of God is, above all, man, each of us, it is me and you. This temple is beautiful because God lives there. You are beautiful, if God dwells in you. You are so beautiful that even people from the outside are amazed by your beauty, because they see God in you, they see in prayer, in the way you experience Holy Mass, in the way you welcome Jesus into your heart. Although we have earthly temples, tabernacles in which God lives, which are beautiful, majestic and richly decorated outside and inside, we must not forget about this tabernacle, which is each of us. During the earthquake on October 30th 2016, the Basilica of saint Benedict in Nursia collapsed. A beautiful medieval building turned into a pile of worthless rubble. A huge loss that many people cried over. The walls, frescoes, paintings and confessionals that witnessed the conversion of many Christians were regretted. Every day, however, similar catastrophes happen hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of times, when the walls of the temples of human hearts collapse, the beautiful ceilings of faith, love and mercy, based on a relationship with God, collapse. And who really suffers because of it, who calls the alarm, who screams in pain? Millions of Christians walk around with rubble or, like in today’s Gospel, garbage inside, with their lives ruined by sin, their hearts cluttered with sinful desires and addictions like these animals in Jerusalem’s temple. This catastrophe is sins, addictions, unclean desires, perversities of the evil one, which threaten not the brick walls of our churches, but the spiritual temple of our relationship with God. Satan is not interested in buildings, but in your heart, he does not have to destroy the church to distance you from God, to cut off your bond of love with Him. All he has to do is destroy your heart, hit it with temptation or sin, and he will achieve what he intended. It will cut you off from what is most important, from the presence of God, from Holy Communion, it will destroy your prayer, weaken your faith, causing discouragement and doubt. What should we do when our heart look like this temple from today’s Gospel? First of all, we should invite Jesus and let Him do the cleaning of our hearts. Only by being close to Jesus, only by having Him in our hearts, will we be able to get out of trouble and resist evil, because Jesus Himself will support us, because He Himself will fight for us. God is with us in every experience, we just need to cling to Him. Let us take care of our spiritual temple, the dwelling place of God, which we are, so that there will always be a place for God in our hearts, so that we will always have Him within us like a fire extinguisher at home, in case the fire wants to destroy us and our life.

Father Marcin Cwierz, OSPPE

© Milosierni.com 2024

Milosierni13@gmail.com

(+1) 908 476 1477

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)