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Rev.
Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
WE ARE
THE SACRED SPACE OF GOD'S TEMPLE IN NEED OF CLEANSING
The
Temple as we know is described as the sacred dwelling place of God. That’s
sacred space where humanity encounter the Divine presence of God. It is a
symbolic space where God desires to live together with humanity and rule the
world through them. Therefore it is very important to ensure that such Sacred
Space (Temple) is kept sacred at all times.
Little
wonder in our Gospel passage today, we heard a very brief story of how Jesus
entered the temple in Jerusalem and drove away the traders from the courts of
the Temple saying: “My house must be a house of prayer. But you have turned it
into a den of thieves.” So he chased out all the dishonest, selfish and
greedy merchants who were making profits by cheating the faithful pilgrims who
came to the Temple to worship God.
Here
Jesus was not just concerned with cleansing the temple of Jerusalem, but
also the temple of the human heart, that is, our souls. He is objecting to the corruption of the sacred. Our body and soul are the temple of the Lord and belong
to him alone. It is a sacred space, a house of prayer which must not be given
over to the false gods of money, greed and sin. Just as we heard in our first reading today Judas
and his brothers after defeating their
enemies who wished to force them to defile the temple of God said: Now that our enemies have been defeated, let
us go up to purify the sanctuary and dedicate it. So, the whole people fell
prostrate in adoration, praising God who had made them so
successful. For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar,
joyfully offering holocausts, communion sacrifices and thanksgivings to God.
Dear
friends, by clearing the Temple, the Lord has also urged us all to clear our spiritual temples, that is our body, mind, heart and soul, in which God
dwells. For our souls are sacred dwellings of God’s Temple. Thus, it must be
made sacred at all times by ensuring that we get rid of all corruptions,
wickedness, pride, ego, greed, wrath, unforgiveness and all other sorts of
evils within us. We must resist them and strive to inspire and help one another
to keep our Temple sacred. For Jesus wishes to cleanse the temple of our soul
by removing what has corrupted it, in order to purify it for worship and make it a dwelling place for prayer.
But
are we willing to let him cleanse us just
like St Andrew Dung Lac and Companions whose memorial we celebrate today? For
when they heard the Gospel they accepted it despite persecutions and even
death. They realize that true happiness is found in the interior living of the
Gospel and not in the material things of this passing world. They embraced
martyrdom and became great instruments in preparing humanity towards the kingdom
of God. We too can be another great instrument of preparation in God’s hands,
if we make ourselves available
LET US
PRAY: Lord God, we are your temple, yet we have let the selfish desires for the
things of this passing world corrupt us so deeply. As we embrace your Words
today, may we through the intercession of St Andrew Dung Lac and Companions experience
the joy of the purification of our body and soul. We ask this through Christ
our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.
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