Finding Jesus In The Temple

For a moment, imagine that temple is you. Imagine that temple is another person - the unborn and the elderly, the sick and the dying, the healthy and happy, the distraught and the despairing and the destitute.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Where do we find Jesus? The Holy Eucharist is the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ! The Catechism reminds us:

1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).

1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.

Where do we find Jesus?

Saint Luke 2:41 - 51

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day’s journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.  After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta found Jesus. 

- from an interview with Sister Mary Prema Pierick conducted by Edward Pentin

EP - The centrality of Jesus is crucial, isn’t it, because many think that helping the poor and the destitute is the center of your work, and yet, actually, it’s Christ.

SMPP - Everything is about him; and in Mother’s life, you see that very clearly. It was Jesus in the Eucharist and Jesus in the poor. It was Jesus in the president and Jesus in the journalist. This was Jesus very clearly. She could perceive the thirst that the soul has for God; as St. Augustine said, we are restless till we rest in God. That thirst, that need — Mother could perceive it and agonize for it, also if that person was unaware of it and going along ways which were damaging to him or herself.

Because of her understanding that each soul is unique and very precious to God, she treated all the same. Also, [she respected] the dignity of the person, their dignity as a child of God, and that dignity makes us all brothers and sisters and also gives us responsibility to care for each other.

EP - The recognition that we’re all born in the image and likeness of God.

SMPP - Right, and that we have to return to God. Mother was very much aware of that. To see Jesus in everyone is a grace of faith, which we have to pray for and to pray for also for each other, to have that faith.

Examination of Conscience

What kind of temple do you offer Jesus?

1. Is your body a sanctuary or a bordello?
2. Are you a party animal?
3. Are you indifferent to the suffering of others?
4. Are you so tough on yourself that you cannot accept Jesus' words of mercy?
5. Are you so tough on others that you are blind to the good in their lives?
6. Is Jesus first in your life or a distant second?

Where do you find Jesus?