Temple Of The Holy Spirit

For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.¹⁰ According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.  ¹⁶ Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?^[a] 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.- 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17 NRSV

You Are God’s Temple

The passage from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians comes from today’s Mass readings.  Today is the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran, but in this reading we get a very important reminder.  We get the reminder that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

Think about it.

How many of us watch what we eat and exercise?  Many of us do but many, like myself, need to do better in this area.  There are many people who would look at their physical appearance and say that they are taking good care of themselves.  Eating right and exercising is only one part of the equation.

What Goes In Is What Comes Out

Allow me to ask you question.  What consumes your time in your daily life?  There are many answers to this question, but lets apply it to our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit.  You may eat right and workout, but what else are you consuming?

Perhaps you overindulge in adult beverages way too often, look at pornography, sleep around, or commit adultery.  I don’t say this to non-Christians, though it still applies, but to Christians.  Those who proclaim Christ and yet are treating their bodies as something less than a creation that is made in the image of God.

These are only examples, but is this how we treat the temple of the Holy Spirit?  I don’t say this to pass judgment because we have all fallen short.  We all mess up and sin.

As we go through today lets examine our lives.  Is there something that you do on a regular basis that defames the temple?  We can work on it and rely on the grace of Christ to get better.  Don’t give up and don’t give in.

Saint Quotes

Be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire.-St. Catherine of Siena

Only in Christ can men and women find answers to the ultimate questions that trouble them. Only in Christ can they fully understand their dignity as persons created and loved by God.-Pope St. John Paul II

Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God’s will.-St. Francis de Sales

Persevere in labors that lead to salvation. Always be busy in spiritual actions. In this way, no matter how often the enemy of our souls approaches, no matter how many times he may try to come near us, he’ll find our hearts closed and armed against him.”-St. Cyprian of Carthage