Brothers and Sisters in Christ, It was with great anger born of reverence for his Father and zeal for his glory that Christ confronted the desecration of the Temple. “And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple.” (Jn 2:15) “Like the prophets before him Jesus expressed the deepest respect for the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him forty days after his birth. (Lk 2:22-39)
At the age of twelve he decided to remain in the Temple to remind his parents that he must be about his Father’s business. He went there each year during his hidden life at least for Passover. (Cf. Lk 2:41) His public ministry itself was patterned by his pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts. (Cf. Jn 2:13-14; 15:1, 14; 7:1, 10, 14; 8:2; 10:22-23)” (CCC 583) Greater by far is the temple, not made by human hands, of our Lord’s Body, of which he says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The temple in Jerusalem as a sign of God is now far superceded by a perfect temple. “I and the Father are one.” (Jn 10:30) Yahweh now provides in the eternal Son the perfect priest, altar and victim of the one Sacrifice.
The Creator is infinitely greater than his creatures. Far beyond the ability of mere creatures is the worship due the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lamb of God. Only in the Son can we worship the Almighty in a fitting way. Now adopted by God in baptism we dare to call God “Father” and to approach the Holy of Holies.
No mere monuments of cold lifeless stone are our “temples”. Our churches are the authentic descendants of the temple in Jerusalem. Each tabernacle housing the Body and Blood of the Lord is a true “Ark of the Covenant”. It is the presence of the living God himself who makes each church and chapel a true temple, where we must bow down in awe before the all-holy God. “Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God.
For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and he was angered that its outer court had become a place of commerce. (Cf. Mt 21:13) He drove merchants out of it because of jealous love for his Father: ‘You shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’ (Jn 2:16-17; cf. Ps 69:10) After his Resurrection his apostles retained their reverence for the Temple. (Cf. Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:20, 21)” (CCC 584) “I will be with you always.”
Because of Christ our churches today are indeed a “privileged place of encounter with God.” Our reverence for the temples of today should far outstrip the reverence of the apostles for the Jewish temple. Peter and the Apostles have handed down to us through the true priesthood the living Christ in the Eucharist, far greater than the manna, the treasured “show bread” kept hidden from view in the Ark in the innermost court of the Temple.
Do we offer the reverential worship demanded of us by Christ’s divinity as we stand in his presence before the tabernacle? Do we mistake his silent presence for permission to ignore him? Do we genuflect upon entering and prior to departing our churches? Do we genuflect in procession to receive the living God? Do we struggle against the temptation to turn our churches into auditoriums, rehearsal halls, or theaters?
Do we call attention to ourselves in needless conversation? We love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength in our reverential love for Jesus Christ our Eucharistic Lord with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” (Jn 14:9) Like Christ, we too must express the “deepest respect” for God. We worship the true temple, the Lamb of God, in the Lord’s Body and Blood.
Destroyed and risen again in three days, Christ himself present in the most august sacrament of the Eucharist makes a mere church building the holiest place on earth. Preserve in church a reverent silence for true prayer and authentic worship. Spend an hour today in the saving presence of the Lord in the tabernacle. Volunteer for an hour per week if you have the privilege of perpetual adoration in your community. Start a weekly period of adoration in your parish. “So, could you not watch with me one hour?” (Mt 26: 40) I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we “meet Christ in the liturgy”,
Father Cusick