Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
You are the temple of God.
Do you believe that?
Not in the way that your head can repeat the phrase “my body is a temple.” But in the way that your heart and soul really hold that you are the temple of God. And not only that you’re the temple of God, but that the Spirit of God dwells in you, and you are holy.
In our second reading today, St. Paul tells us it is so (1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17). I, for one, find it incredibly hard to believe. I’m pretty efficient at sinning, and I’m almost always my harshest critic. I bear witness to all my failures and regularly have a hard time believing that the Spirit of God would dwell in me of all people. But nonetheless, it’s true, and so it’s necessary to understand what that must mean. Fortunately, our good friend Ezekiel gives us a pretty good description! (Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12)
Ezekiel presents us with a scene featuring water flowing from a temple. The water flows out, down the side of the temple, and empties into the sea, making salt water fresh. He then goes on to tell us about all the animal life that grows in abundance, and the fruit trees with great fruit and good leaves. It’s a miraculous scene, filled with powerful imagery of a paradise-like place where everything grows and can multiply. All this abundance and life, just from what comes out of the temple.
But wait.
We are God’s temple. The Spirit of God dwells in us.
What flows from us can have the same effect as what flows from the temple Ezekiel describes. The things we produce and the words that flow from us can create this abundance and life. That’s a lot of pressure! Especially when it’s hard to believe we’re the temple of God in the first place!
We aren’t made to shy away from the pressure and the power that come with being God’s temple. We’re called to embrace it. You are the temple of God. It may be hard to believe, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Because you are the temple of God, you have the ability (and the responsibility!) to ensure that what flows from you creates abundance and life.
God, grant that we may always strive to live like the temples we already are.
- Marty Bagatti