“Are
you not aware 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 him. For the temple of
God is holy, and you are that temple.” These are the words of St. Paul in his first
letter to the Corinthians. (1Cor. 3:16)
It was on the Feast of the
Dedication of St. John Lateran, November 9,
that the said epistle of St. Paul was read. The Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome is
regarded as the “Head and Mother” of all churches in the world. Hence, this is a special Feast that is
celebrated throughout the whole world.
Reflecting on the reading made me
realize the greatness of my being as a Temple of God. While the Basilica of St. John Lateran may be
magnificent in its architectural structure, it is still made of materials that
would eventually yield to the law of nature for their deterioration. But as
for me, I am wonderfully made to live
forever (Ps. 139: 14 & Matt. 25:46)
A challenging question for me now is: ”If
I am God’s temple, what should I do?
The following answers came to my
mind.
First, I must ADORE GOD. Adoring God means I must humbly acknowledge
my complete dependence on Him. Without
Him I am nothing and can do nothing.
Second, I must LOVE GOD. Loving God means I must strive to be
conscious of His Presence in me and have a personal relationship with Him.
Third, I must OBEY GOD. Obeying God means I must be ready to do
whatever He wants me to do with my whole mind, my whole heart, and with all my
strength.
To be able to do the above mentioned
actions, I have to develop the following
virtues:
1.
The
virtue of HUMILITY. Humility is said to
be the Truth. Hence, I must nurture in my mind the Truth that my
very existence is a Gift from God and I owe everything that I am and that I
have from Him.
2.
The
virtue of LOVE. Love is
unselfishness. To love God I must
develop an attitude of offering everything that I can do for God’s glory. It is an attitude of total self-sacrifice
without expecting anything in return.
3.
The
virtue of OBEDIENCE. Obedience is
self-surrender to the Will of God.
Paramount goal in my life must be to ‘Do God’s Will’. Hence, everything I do must be in conformity
with the Will of God.
In short, paraphrasing what St. Paul said in his epistle to the
Galatians
(
2: 20), “it must no longer I that lives, but it is God Who
lives and reigns in me.”
November
13, 2011
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