I decided to spend some quality time with my spiritual mother. Her name is Mary. Other titles for her include, Mother of God, Star of the Sea, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Blessed Mother, Mamma Mary, Handmaid of the Lord, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Mother of Jesus, and I could just keep on going. She has so many titles. Check out a few more in the Litany of Loreto. Anyway, during this Christmas season, I talked and reflected with Mary on the concept of our bodies being temples. "My body's a whaaat?" you might ask. See St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body." I'm sure you all know what your body is. Bones and muscles and all of that stuff covered by flesh. I'm not an anatomy person, but I know that my body is how I eat and need to eat. It is how I walk, grab, sit, stand, dance, laugh, breathe, cry, and sweat. What then, is a temple? A simple definition would be a place where God dwells, or gods/a god is believed to dwell. Most religions have temples--holy places--from Hinduism to Judaism. One thing I'd like to focus on is the Jewish Temple. I'm not talking about the modern-day synagogues. I want to talk about the Temple in the land of Israel. The Temple in Jerusalem, that Jesus would walk in and out of (think around 33AD). Quick bible history lesson because I'm a bible nerd. Solomon built the First Temple of God in Jerusalem. Beautiful and rich--where the people of Israel could worship the Lord, as it was the Lord's house. Very sadly, the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and the Jews were cast into exile (586BC). Very joyfully, after being delivered from exile, the Jews built the Second Temple right on top of the first. The Second Temple was standing during the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The first and second temples were similar in many ways. They both had what was called the Holy of Holies and it was likely required for those who entered the Temple to be ceremonially clean. In the very center of the Temple was what was called the Holy of Holies, which contained the very presence of God. Connecting this back to the temple of our bodies, our bodies are meant to contain the very presence of God. I believe as a Catholic, that the very flesh and blood of God dwells within me when I receive Jesus during the celebration of the Mass. Called the Eucharist, Jesus Himself takes on the form of bread and wine so that He may enter us most fully and intimately. When I eat this bread, not only the presence of God is within me, but His whole body, blood, soul, and divinity. Another cool thing. To enter the Temple in Jerusalem, one had to be ceremonially clean. Jews would have to cleanse themselves before entering the Temple (it was a type of ritual bath). Anything that was sinful or dirty would be terribly disrespectful to God, Who dwelt in the Temple, thus they had to make sure they were clean. Think of our own bodies now. We should only let what is clean enter our bodies. Let's try our best to keep out all that is sinful and dirty. The sinful and dirty can come in many forms:
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You see Me! Yes, in the face of the homeless, you find Me. If you go to the streets; if you seek Me out in the poor, I am there. You know I am present in the sick, and so You find Me in the hospitals and in the bedridden. You know how to encounter Me. You go into church, into My house, and you give Me a part of your wealth. Indeed, indeed, I receive your offerings. I receive your gifts of love. In the prisoners, I am present. In the cold and the wanting, you find Me and you clothe Me. You do as I have commanded You. You love Me in the people, in the needy, those you help. When you have fed me in the hungry and clothed Me in the naked; when you've visited Me in the hospital and prisons, you go home to your life, your family, your work. Instead of the homeless, you find the wealthy. You see Me in the rich and the affluent. You see Me in those with more clothes than they can wear. Do you know that in them, I am still there? I am beside You in the people who never worry about starving. I am there in the successful, the thriving, the independent. You see Me in healthy faces, in those who can afford medicine and can pay the hospital bills. You see Me in the parishioners at Your church, My house. You see me in the free and the privileged. You see Me indeed, but do you recognize Me? Where are you when I'm in the emotionally wanting? When they are depressed and lonely and angry and hurting? Where are you when I'm in those addicted to sins that no one knows about? Not big murders and theft, but lies, selfishness, and hidden addictions. Where is your helping hand when I am in those who are so consumed with themselves that they don't realize they are hurting others? You think you only find Me when you travel across the country? When you volunteer, join an organization, and follow a planned activity? In the things that build your resume and give you recognition? But where is your help for Me in your friends, yourself, your family, your enemies? Your peers who annoy you and your boss who you despise. The professors you laugh at in the back of the classroom? Where are you when I am in need of defending? When others gossip about Me, when no one sits at my table. Where are you when I pass by you, clearly distressed, and you don't even give Me the grace of a smile? Where are you? Where is your generous heart when the poorest of the poor are poor spiritually and not materially? I call you for more than the obvious poor. I call you for those you work with, live with, interact with. Whether I'm a waitress clearly having a bad day or an emotionally numb wreck from eating my problems away. I call you to those who are accomplished; who overbook themselves. I call you to those who are lazy; who refuse to try. I call you to love the poor inside of your own self. The qualities you hate about your own person. Where are you now? You know where to find Me in the materially needy. You know how to clothe the naked and feed the hungry. But what of those naked from spiritual graces. Those hungry for true love? You travel the ocean to save the world for Me, but what of the person right beside you? Yes, give to the poor. But remember that poverty comes in many forms. |
AuthorJacqueline St. Clare: I spent six months in a cloistered convent, and now I'm a college student! Archives
April 2021
SpiritualityVocationMental ILlnessSeasonalADVENT LENT
Unexpected Church MembersAll words that are underlined can be found on the "Glossary" page
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