THE JOY OF GOD'S TEMPLE


FRIDAY, TWENTY THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

1 Cor 9:16-19,22-27; Ps 84:3-6,12; Lk 6:39-42

Knowledge of our Eternal Communion

The Psalmist introduces today's theme. He speaks of the loveliness and attraction of God’s court. Of course, David’s immediate reference is the beautiful place he prepared for the Ark of the Covenant, even before Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem; he also makes a mediated reference to the heavenly Temple of God. David was a mystic and always related to God. His mind and heart were rarely removed from contemplation of God and his Law. Thus, going to the house of God was a moment of exultation and joy, because he felt God’s presence more deeply with the physical things that relate him to God. More fundamentally, his joy in going to the court of God was from the spiritual encounter he would have with God there; for God dwells spiritually in his Temple. We must form the habit of going to the house of God to worship, for it is a great act of worship and a source of blessings; it also helps us continuously yearn for heaven. “My soul is longing and yearning, is yearning for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God.” For the psalmist, going to the courts of God gives a foretaste of the heavenly communion. There we will worship God with the saints and angels.

We do not cherish going to the Church to worship God because we are often lost in the world and its affairs. Knowing the danger this lack of interest holds, Hebrews 10:24-25 warns us not to give up the habit of meeting together as some of us do, for it helps us prepare for the coming day of the Lord. All of us need the constant renewal of grace that the coming together offers. We gather to celebrate the Eucharist as our communion with the Lord and with one another. It is a moment of training for us, as we listen to the word of God and receive him sacramentally, and really into our minds and hearts. Saint Paul speaks of the importance of this drilling exercise. “All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither.” We must always gather for the Lord’s drilling exercise; for he judges and prunes us by means of his word and renews our grace by means of his word and Sacraments. Like Paul, we must imbibe the spiritual discipline. “That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air. I treat my body hard and make it obey me, for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified.”

Our coming to the gathering of God’s people encourages those looking up to us. Among these, we must mention our children. God has entrusted them to our care, that we may introduce them to the ways of God. We must be familiar with the Lord’s ways to lead our children and others on the spiritual path. Hence, our Lord says: “Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher.” Our spiritual life is a journey into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We are to know him and love him, which brings us into the heavenly communion with all the angels and saints. By following the Lord closely, in interior life and in public worship, we open ourselves to the Lord’s corrections. If we are not walking with the Lord in the interior of our souls, then we become hypocrites and idol worshippers. We spend our time judging others’ external conduct, while living in ignorance of our own faults. Our Lord warns us against this. “Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own?” Going to the court of God also helps us to know our true selves and set ourselves on the spiritual path to God. We pray for the grace to hunger and thirst for God’s presence.

Let us pray: O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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. 

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