Keepers of the Temple of the Holy spirit

Good morning. Peace to each of you and to your families.

This morning’s readings focus on the beauty and sanctity and abundance to be found in God’s holy temple. St. Paul tells us that each believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit built upon the foundation that is Jesus Christ. St. John recounts the time when Jesus drove the marketers out of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus accused them of turning God’s holy place into a common marketplace, that is, of changing the focus from worship of God to worship of money and self.

Pulling the abundance concept from Ezekiel, the personal dwelling of the Holy spirit from Paul, and the need to focus on what is important from John, it should be clear that your and my responsibility is to jealously, yes, jealously guard the doors to our souls to ensure that evil does not worm its way into our hearts. Anything, anything which is not of God must be identified, exposed, and driven from within. Titillating little pleasures, drunkenness however we indulge in it, cursing and otherwise abusing our fellow men and women, cheating on God, our spouses, and our bosses behind the covers of our computers, and every other sin must be purged from ourselves if we are to present ourselves and represent ourselves as Temples of the Holy Spirit.

The money-changers and sellers did not just show up one morning in the Temple in Jerusalem. Neither does Satan in the temple of our souls. Satan sneaks in. We say, “Everybody does this. It is not a sin.” Or, “It’s part of our culture.” Or, “Oh, come on! How can this be a sin? It’s not against the law.” Pretty soon these little things become habitual. And, like any evil habit, they lead to the need for more and ultimately to self-destruction. A smoke leads to two packs of cigarettes a day. A raucous evening with friends leads to a weekly night out with the girls to enjoy a little freedom from the confines of family commitments. A subscription to a soft porn magazine leads to condoning “Gentlemen’s clubs”, X-rated movies, habitual masturbation or adultery and worse. Immersion in violent video gaming leads to violence in the office, in the home, on the street, and the justification of retaliatory killing.

Our best defense against Satan and our best protection against ultimate eternal death is to throw the doors of the temple open to all of the good things of God and to place armed guards at every entrance no matter how small the opening to aggressively defend against the relentless onslaught of evil.

Please say a special prayer that our newly-elected political representatives will stand firm for the greater good of our country, our citizens, and the world. Pray that they will recognize that they were elected to serve no to be served, to aid our citizens rather than to pile up riches, and to give example to us all of right-living rather than to fall prey to the temptations of position, money, and power.

Father, God, we adore you. We thank you for the bounty of your blessings. We pray for the grace to search out any evil in our hearts and our lives, to expose it to your Light, and to purge it from our selves, and to gleefully accept the fullness of You in its place. Help us, Father, to cleanse this temple of the Holy Spirit that it may be seen by you as a suitable dwelling place. May we, once again purified, rightfully begin again to witness You to the world that others may come to know Eternal Life and to turn from the road to Hell. We ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Be like Bartimaeus especially in this prayer seeking purification of heart, mind, and soul. Pray! Trust! Expect!

In Him and in His love,

Lou