May their interior temple be as beautiful as this temple of stone

Gospel of the Day (Luke 19:45-48)

Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.'"

And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

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Reflections:

May their interior temple be as beautiful as this temple of stone

When three are gathered in your name (Mt 18,20) they already form a church. Watch over the thousands assembled here: their hearts have prepared a sanctuary before ever our hands constructed this one for the glory of your name. May their interior temple be as beautiful as this temple of stone. Be pleased to dwell in one as in the other; our hearts, like these stones, are signed with your name.

The mighty power of God might have raised up a habitation with as much ease as, at a gesture, it brought the world into being. But God has formed man so that man might form a habitation for him. Blessed be his mercy who has so loved us! He is infinite, we are limited. He builds the world for us; we build a house for him. How wonderful it is that man is able to build a dwelling for the All-Powerful, ever present One, from whom nothing can escape.

He dwells tenderly in our midst; he draws us with bonds of love; he stays among us and calls us to take the way of heaven that we might live with him. He left his dwelling and chose the Church that we might forsake our dwelling and choose paradise. God dwelt in the midst of men so that men might encounter God.