“Zeal for your house will consume me.” (Jn 2:17)
FIRST READING - Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
First reading from the Book of Ezekiel
The angel brought me
back to the entrance of the temple,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the southern side.
He said to me,
"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
SECOND READING from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians - 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17
Brothers and sisters:
You are God's building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Jn 2:13-22
From the Gospel according to John
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
"What sign can you show us for doing this?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jews said,
"This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?"
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA IN ROME - Gospel (Jn 2:13-22)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Today's Word of God teaches everyone to be aware that the body and soul of each person are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. God created humans with a soul and a body, and humans were created in His image. God does not want His image to be dirty or impure in each person. Instead, He wants people to keep the image of God always clean, pure, and holy before God.
The Word of God in today's Gospel tells about the dialogue between Jesus and the Jews in the Temple of Jerusalem. God said: He is the Temple, the place where people gather to receive God's grace. God invites everyone: to come to God, come to the Temple of the Holy Spirit, a place where absolutely no filth, impurity, or sin can enter. God wants people to put aside everything that belongs to the material world, the world of money, status, and fame so that their souls will worship only God, the only One above all things. God does not want people to fall into Satan's trap, which is to let the desire for worldly material things creep into their souls, which will lead them to value and worship material things above all things and put God out of their souls. God also told people that He was the Temple that was destroyed and killed by people. Through that, He foretold how the Son of God would die, and after three days of death, He would rise again. It is an eternal resurrection that will never die again. This resurrection will bring happiness to people. If people follow the path of God, they will also receive eternal resurrection in the future. People are called by God to aim for eternal life, not to fall into Satan's traps, not to make their Temple of Souls dirty, impure, and sinful anymore, and to keep their souls clean and pure before God.
The image of Jesus came to the Temple. He saw people who were passionate about material things, worshipping money, and fame, and forgetting that God is the highest above all things. Through that, God calls everyone to turn to their own Temple where God resides; to always be vigilant in their thoughts, words, actions, and deeds, so as not to make the Temple of the Holy Spirit within our own souls dirty, sinful, because that is not pleasing to God. God always wants good things for people. He calls people to be awake and live according to what God teaches so that their bodies and souls can spread love, spread the love of God to others.
The Word of God for today calls on all humanity to:
Aim for eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven in the future.
Keep our souls, which is our Temple, clean and bright so that God always reigns in us.
The human body is the image of God, so He wants people to protect and keep their bodies pure, not letting worldly things interfere and defile the body so that the devil can penetrate deep into the soul and obscure the image of God, which is not pleasing to God.
In this new era, God wants mankind to dedicate both body and soul. Be joyful so that God can purify, wash, and prune our bodies to be pure and clean, becoming a holy body. From there, the soul and body are united to fight against Satan, worship, and fear God, and God delights in reigning in the souls and bodies of people who are simple, joyful, happy, loving, and obedient to God. And where God reigns, there is the holiness, peace, and true happiness of Heaven right here on earth. Therefore, when a person has atoned for his sins on this earth by his determination to sacrifice, to devote himself to working for Him and to living a holy life on this earth, then immediately after being called by God, the soul will enjoy the joy of Heaven, without having to go through purgatory.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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