10 Feburary 2020 - temple of the Spirit

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

The presence of Jesus is unique among humankind in all of history. 

THE REDEEMER OF MAN, Jesus Christ, is the centre of the universe and of history.

- Rdemptor Hominis 1, Saint John Paul the Great

Certainly there were other healers. But in the case of Jesus, his presence itself is healing. It isn't a technique or a prayer of his so much as his very person that conveys healing. The hemorrhaging woman learned this when she touched him and was healed. Those who touched only the tassel on his cloak in today's Gospel reading learned the same thing.

Jesus is anointed with the Holy Spirit. We see this in his baptism, when he declares that the Spirit of the LORD is upon him in the synagogue, in the Transfiguration, and throughout his mission. Jesus is the revelation of the Father as he tells Philip (see John 14:9). In short, the entire Trinity is present and abides in union with the person of Jesus. In truth, it is the same cloud of glory that filled the temple of Solomon that is now present in the human nature of Jesus.

When the priests left the holy place,
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD.

Direct access to the glory of God in the Old Testament was a death sentence. It was more than any sinful human could bear. Jesus, by uniting humanity and divinity in his person, makes that glory accessible to us. We behold it more and more the more we open ourselves to Jesus in faith, hope, and love. Great and amazing as this is, it gets better. We ourselves are made temples of the Holy Spirit.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (see First Corinthians 3:16)

Fair enough, we think. But our tassels still aren't going to bring about healings. Or are they?

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them (see Acts 19:11-12).

We are temples of the Holy Spirit. We are united to Jesus and to the Father. It is time to stop putting limits on what that might mean. It is time to stop hiding the light we are given. Let us recognize the greatness of the gift of God's presence within us and be thankful. This will prepare us to let ourselves be used in the circumstances God chooses.

Advance, O LORD, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your majesty.
May your priests be clothed with justice;
let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.