THE RECONSTRUCTION COST

SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL, PRIEST

Zech 2:5-9,14-15; Jer 31:10-12,13; Lk 9:43-45

The Cost of Rebuilding the Temple

God created us to be his temple. It is a statement of a deep mystery that we can never really comprehend until we behold God in beatific vision. The realisation of this project requires the awesome and infinite greatness of God, because, unlike the physical temples we build with material things, the construction of human temples requires the cooperation of human wills. Unlike material things, which we can hammer and chisel into shape with little physical difficulty, the human wills are not shaped by force alone or anything without, but with so much and varied inputs of divine grace within. Even grace is not enough without human obedience and willing cooperation, for we cannot be saved without us. The free will God gave to us is real, and that means he requires our cooperation to save us. Our free will underscores the dignity and mystery we share in God. It is the deeper meaning of the fact that God made us in his image. We are the temple of God by creation, but the key to unlock the temple for God to enter in his glory and divine Majesty is in our keeping. God has the power to enter without our permission, but that would violate the free will he gave us. From this perspective, we understand that damnation is a personal choice and salvation is also a personal choice.

The Temple of God in Jerusalem is a symbol of the mystical Temple that is the Church of Christ, and a symbol of the temple within each of us. Hence, the vision of the reconstructed Temple of Jerusalem given to the prophet Zechariah relates to us individually and collectively as the Church. “Raising my eyes, I saw a vision. It was this: there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked him, ‘Where are you going?’ He said, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to find out her breadth and her length.’ And then, while the angel who was talking to me stood still, another angel came forward to meet him. He said to him, ‘Run, and tell that young man this, ‘Jerusalem is to remain unwalled, because of the great number of men and cattle there will be in her.’” The reference here is surely to the Church of Christ, which will have no wall to exclude anyone who wants to enter from every tribe, language, and nation. The only thing to exclude anyone from being part of this Jerusalem is unwillingness. The breadth and length of the mystical City of God are defined by God’s infinite compassion and love for us. The City of God reaches everywhere where God’s compassion and love are accepted and embraced. These mysteries that cannot be sounded or measured. Whoever believes and accepts the offer of God’s mercy and love is already within the mystical Jerusalem. Only our wills put a measure on God’s boundless mercy and love.

The mystery is what our Lord presents to us in the Gospel as he speaks of his passion and death to the disciples. “At a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: “The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.” God’s gift of his Only Begotten Son for our salvation is the full demonstration of the infinite compassion and love of God for us. It is the cost of reconstructing the temple within each of us, if we willingly offer our wills. It is a mystery hidden from us now, as it was to the disciples. But open to those who embrace the Gospel of our Lord with their whole minds, hearts, and wills. Saint Vincent de Paul is an excellent example of those who opened their hearts to the mercy and love of God, and he became a model of divine compassion and love. He was born in Aquitaine and became a priest. He devoted his whole life to the service of the poor. He founded a congregation of priests for missionary work and groups of laymen to help paupers and galley-slaves. He also founded the Sisters of Charity with Saint Louise de Marillac. May his prayers help us to open our hearts to God’s infinite compassion and love.

Let us pray: O God, who for the relief of the poor and the formation of the clergy endowed the Priest Saint Vincent de Paul with apostolic virtues, grant, we pray, that, afire with that same spirit, we may love what he loved and put into practice what he taught. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.