Our lives as a Temple

“Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.” John 2. 13-25

Everything that we have been given in this life is a gift; a gift from God. And with those gifts, there is an expectation that we will use them for good. For the good of ourselves and all of those in our community. Our faith is one of the biggest gifts we receive; the responsibility to use that gift appropriately is immense.

We can liken the temple in the gospel story to our lives. The temple, like our lives is a place that we live out our faith, it is the place where we use our gifts and talents in order to serve the community and give glory to God. For Jesus, to come into the temple and see it being used in a way that would do neither of those things, would have been one of the most disturbing things he could encounter. And so, with much “zeal” he began to stop the misuse of the space as quickly as he could.

Jesus had an expectation of what was to be done with the temple, of how the faithful should be using it; I believe he has the same expectations of our lives. How will we use our gifts and talents to better not only our own life, but that of the entire community? Sometimes, we can get on the wrong path; as did the people in the temple that day. We are all human, and with free will we will inevitably make mistakes. Maybe the things we choose aren’t necessarily wrong or harmful, but they may not be life giving or allow us to be the best versions of ourselves. Will there be times when we need to tear down the temple in order to build it back up to what God intends it to be?

Do we truly understand the responsibility we have to figure out how we can serve best? It us up to all of us to discern what our roll in the community should be. Have we asked the right questions throughout our lives? We start asking when children are very young “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I truly believe that is the wrong question. I feel we need to start by asking, “how do you want to serve when you grow up?” If we can start framing our decisions differently, I believe we will have an easier time hearing what it is God wants for us. If we are able to listen to what God wants for us, we will be able to build the temple as God intended.

By Serena Shaw
Oblate Associate
780-231-3066
seshaw@shaw.ca