"Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit dwells within you?"
1 Cor. 3:16

In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus drives people out of the Temple. With a whip. It seems like such a violent act for the person who preaches love of neighbor in the Gospel reading from two weeks ago. But in remembering that Gospel reading from Matthew two weeks ago, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength. It is more important to be true to the Lord and to respect God’s House of prayer than to go along with what everybody else is doing. While we no longer have money changers and people selling sacrifices at modern Churches, we still have some housecleaning to do in our sacred worship space. I find myself not respecting the time set aside each week for Sunday Mass. It’s not that I don’t attend Mass, I do. I am physically present every Sunday, but I’m not necessarily mentally or spiritually engaged every week. I find myself more concerned with conversation before and after mass than in preparing myself to celebrate the sacrifice of the mass. I catch myself letting my mind wander or mentally creating to-do lists instead of paying attention to what is going on around me. I think Jesus aims to increase the respect for worship when he drives the market out of the Temple. Although I am not acting exactly as the buyers and sellers in the Temple, I am disrespecting my sacred worship space through my attitude.

In the reading from Corinthians, Paul equates me with the temple of God. In his words, Jesus is my foundation, and I am structuring my life around him. Not only am I building my life on Jesus, but the Holy Spirit is living within me. That boggles my mind. I can’t be worthy to be a vessel for God, but that is what Paul is saying in the second reading for today. Not only does God dwell within me, but God acts through me. And that makes me think, am I a bad home for God. I really cannot be worthy, looking back at all the bad things I have done, thought, and said. In my mind, God could not possibly want to work through somebody as flawed as me. And yet, God still does. God still wants to have a relationship with me and use me to accomplish great things. So now, like Jesus, I need to go through the Temple that is me and start creating a place that seeks to give glory to God and invites the Lord to live within its boundaries. I need to get rid of my selfish, judgmental attitude and seek to serve with and for others.