Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
I must admit that my spiritual life has not been all that awesome lately. Of course, my spiritual life connects to all the rest of life – so that my spiritual dryness expands to other parts of my life. But I also think that that the multiple tragedies in Dayton this year have also worn on my spiritual life and perhaps brought about some of that dryness.
Today’s scriptures read to me like an opportunity for a spiritual reset, a chance to consider: what might be the case of this spiritual dryness, and what might I offer to God nevertheless? Both the first reading and the Gospel are about rebuilding God’s temple. Since each one of us is meant to be God’s temple (as Paul writes in 1 Cor 3:16), we can think about rebuilding ourselves, rededicating ourselves to God.
Today’s Old Testament reading (1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59) speaks of a moment in Jewish history when the Israelites found their temple ransacked, weeds growing, the altar desecrated. The lectionary skips over the passage where we see all the hard work the Israelites did cleaning up the temple, but it does describe their utter joy at being able to adorn the temple with gold.
As I think about my spiritual life at the moment, I can look both at where maybe there are weeds growing – but I can also recall moments in my life that have brought that utter joy the Israelites experience – for example, when singing some of my favorite hymns, or being on retreat. So one of my practices today will be to sing one of my favorite hymns with gusto Even if the song doesn’t “work” to bring me away from that dryness, it will be reminder that God has been with me, is with me, and will still be with me.
In the Gospel (Luke 19:45-48), Jesus has a slightly different focus. He is calling out against all the people who are using the temple for their own profit, and proclaims instead that the temple ought to be a house of prayer. It is very easy to let prayer slide into some other kind of activity. I can think of the many times this week when “prayer time” has really just been a chance for my brain to wander or for me to mentally “fix” all the broken stuff I see in my life. So the Gospel offers an opportunity to bring us back to our purpose: prayer is for God.
Today is St. Cecilia’s feast. She is known for her steadfastness to God, even dedicating herself to a life of virginity while married, and even as she faced death.
Today, let us ask God for the grace to build up God’s own temple – that is, to become more of the people God calls us to be.
Jana M. Bennett