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The work of God is held back not by bad men and women, but by good ones who have stopped growing. - M. P. Horban
(How is God calling you to grow these days?)
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EZ 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; PS 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; 1 COR 3:9C-11, 16-17
JN 2:13-22
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.
USCCB Lectionary
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Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain,
2018 (3rd ed.) ____________
(Dedication of Lateran Basilica from dailyscripture.net)
Jesus referred to the temple as his Father's house which was being made into a "house of trade" (John 2:16) or "den of robbers" (Mark 11:17). That is why he used physical force to expel the money-chargers. The prophecy of Malachi foretold the coming of the Lord unexpectedly
to his Temple to "purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord" (Malachi 3:1-4). Jesus' disciples recalled the prophetic words from Psalm 69: "Zeal for your house will consume me" (Psalm 69:9). This was understood as a prophecy describing the Messiah. Here the disciples saw more clearly Jesus as the Messiah who burned with zeal for the house of God.
The Jewish authorities, however, wanted proof that Jesus had divine authority to act as he did. They demanded a sign from God to prove Jesus right, otherwise, they would treat him as an imposter and a usurper of their authority. Jesus
replied that the sign God would give would be Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews did not understand that the temple Jesus referred to was his own body. The "tent of his body" had to be destroyed to open the way to the presence of God for us.
The Lord Jesus makes us temples of the Holy Spirit
Through his death and resurrection, Jesus not only reconciles us with God, he fills us with his Holy Spirit and makes us temples of the living God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God's word enlightens our minds and purifies our hearts that we may
offer God fitting worship and enjoy his presence both now and forever. Do you burn with zeal for the Lord’s house?
"Lord Jesus Christ, you open wide the door of your
Father’s house and you bid us to enter confidently that we may worship in spirit and truth. Help me to draw near to your throne of mercy with gratitude and joy."
Paperback, Kindle and eBook
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God and I: Exploring the Connections between God, Self and Ego, by Philip St. Romain, 2016 (2nd
ed.) ____________ Chapter 8: Mystical Union: Self and God
Direct Approaches The direct experience of Self and reality in a non-theistic context is
how I understand Zen enlightenment and other “non-dual” forms of Eastern mysticism. Jim Arraj has described this as a metaphysical mysticism, rather than a religious mysticism in which God would be more explicitly known in the Self-God experience.
Zen appears, then, as one of the most dramatic attempts to respond to the call of grace using the resources of human nature and a preternatural energy to leave behind all in order to find All. . . It turns human nature inside out and pursues the obscure experience of existence given in the heart of human awareness to its ultimate conclusions, to the very esse of the soul, which is receiving the divine creative influx.
The Self-God experience that one comes to through Zen is both similar to and different from the unitive experiences of Christian contemplatives. If these differences can be acknowledged and kept in perspective, then there is no reason to conflate them nor, less, to pit them against each other. The mystical experience of oneness described by Zen could be understood not so much as evidence that duality is
an illusion as a descriptor of the type of perception experienced when the distinction-making aspects of consciousness are silenced for awhile (even permanently, it seems, in some cases).
Hardback, paperback, eBook and free preview versions.
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