Tuesday, November 9, 2021

A Mystery

Today we keep the feast of the Pope’s own cathedral at Saint John Lateran in Rome. And as the Gospel ends, we will hear this most beautiful phrase, whispered to us by the Evangelist: “He was speaking of the temple of his body.” 

The temple that will be destroyed and raised up is not the Temple built of stones but the temple of Jesus’ own Body. Jesus is the new gift of God that replaces the former. The temple is no longer a place, but a person. Jesus declares himself now and forever this meeting place between God and his people, the place where God’s desire for us and our desire for God meet and merge. Washed in the blood and water flowing the open side of the sanctuary of his holy body, we are being formed into this most holy dwelling, to become his Body.

Because too often we have forgotten the awesome destiny that is ours, let us beg his mercy.