Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Clean-up! Clean-up! Everybody, everywhere. Clean-up! Clean-up! Everybody do your share. Did anyone else learn the song when they were little? Or perhaps you taught it to your own kids? I’m a little out in left field on this but the song kept popping into my head as I read today’s gospel (Brandon needs a vacation...it’s been a long month. lol). In all seriousness, I am a bit of a neat-freak; perhaps borderline OCD. I like to have things organized; I enjoy getting dressed up and looking nice for Sunday mass; the silverware in the dishwasher is separated out so it’s easy to put away afterward; I orient my cards to all face the same way when I play euchre. Crazy, right?
As I reflect on the gospel, I cannot help but turn that same song inward. How clean, how organized, how neat is my heart? What is the state of my soul? Jesus goes into the temple, the center of Jewish life and meaning at that time, and rips the place apart. Why? It was dirty; it needed cleaning. The temple was intended to be a sacred and holy place; a house of prayer and a place of welcome for all people. Instead, it had become a location of deception and worldly consumption--money changers, vendors--detractors from the spiritual life. The temple had become “a den of robbers”. Similarly, we are called to be sacred spaces of prayer in our very being. We are called to be saints. We are called to holiness. The spirit of God dwells in each one of us; we are meant to be a temple of the holy spirit.
Today presents me with an opportunity to reflect, does my ‘house’ need cleaning? Am I willing to drive out or let go of those things that separate me from my call to holiness? What am I stumbling over right now? What barriers are blockading my soul? Sometimes our spiritual house gets filled up with the clutter of sin. Things like lying, gossip, greed, anger, and selfishness can all clutter our temple. Jesus is calling us to clean house, to prepare to be sanctuaries. Let us center our lives on discipleship and prayer, to love one another, serve one another--to embody a temple that is a house of prayer for all nations. My boys’ favorite song from CGS is “Christ is light; in him there is no darkness, come to him, and he will give you light.” If we claim to love God, let us walk away from the darkness of a cluttered temple; drive out the darkness and let the light shine in and prepare our hearts for the love of Christ to shine through our actions.
Lord, prepare me, to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.
Blessings,
Brandon Meyer