Homily for Friday Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 21st November, 2025. The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Readings: 1 Macc. 4:36-37.52-59; Ps. 1Chron. 29:10-12; Luke:19:45-48

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LORD, WE ARE YOUR SACRED TEMPLE IN NEED OF PURIFICATION

The Temple, as we know it, is described as the sacred dwelling place of God. That’s sacred space where humanity encounters 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.

It is in the light of this purification of the temple that we will understand the importance of the memorial of the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which we celebrate today. That great moment when St. Joachim and St. Anne offered their firstborn child to the Lord at the Temple as prescribed by the Law.

A gratuitous action in appreciation of God’s grace for choosing Mary to be the mother of our Lord and her total availability to God’s plan. Let us all be inspired by the example of Mary, whom the Lord has set before us, that we shall also be righteous, virtuous and great in faith as she has shown us in her lifetime in thanksgiving to God.

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 Our Mother Mary, experience the joy of the purification of our body and soul. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.