Readings: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-29
In the second reading today, we read about the beauty and majesty of Heaven, the holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God. After taking the time to describe the glory of the Heavenly Jerusalem, St. John comments that he saw no temple in the city. For a Jewish reader, this would probably be a shock since the Temple was the heart of Jerusalem. But then St. John goes on to say that the Lord God Almighty is the Temple and the Lamb. The city is enlightened by the glory of God and the Lamb is the lamp from which the light flows.
This is certainly important for us to consider because Heaven is where we want to spend eternity. However, the description given by St. John is also very important for us now, not only to augment our hope for Heaven, but to understand who we are as Christian people. It makes perfect sense to us that God would be the Temple in Heaven, but what we struggle with is the reality that God loves us so much that He already causes the mysteries we will enter into for eternity to enter into us in time.
We see this in many ways, but the Holy Eucharist is preeminent. However, before we can receive Holy Communion, we must be in the state of sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace is the life of God in us, so this is another of these mysteries taking place in us now that foreshadows what we will experience in Heaven. Indeed, the moment we enter into the state of sanctifying grace, the Holy Trinity comes to dwell within us and we literally become the dwelling place of God, the Temple of the Lord.
Considering this mystery even further, when we pray the Our Father, we begin by affirming that God is in Heaven. So, if He comes to dwell in our souls, then our souls become like Heaven. This should help us to understand the greatness of our dignity, the holiness to which God is calling us, and the immense glory that will be ours in Heaven, especially since this is already happening within our souls on earth.
This is exactly what we see in the Gospel reading today. Jesus told His Apostles that His Father would love whoever loves Jesus and that He and the Father would come to dwell within that person. He goes on to speak of the Holy Spirit Whom the Father would send in the Name of Jesus. Of course, the Holy Spirit does not remind us from the outside of all that Jesus taught us; rather, He teaches us from within because He dwells within. So, we have the Holy Trinity dwelling within us!
You and I are the Temple of the Lord, the dwelling place of God, and the holy city, but St. John said the holy city had no temple. This means God is the Temple in each one of us (if we are in the state of grace) and the Lamb is the light of the holy city that is you! So, the real question for each of us is not whether or not this is true, but whether or not we are living this truth.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that He gives us His peace, a peace the world cannot give. Yet many of us have fallen into a situation similar to what the Apostles had to address in the first reading where some, without the Apostles’ mandate, had taken away the peace of mind of the Gentile converts by teaching things that were not true. If we accept teachings that contradict or undermine the Truth Who is Jesus, then we will lose our peace. If we think about it for a moment, we will recognize that very few people today are truly at peace.
If God is dwelling within us, how is it possible that we are not at peace? Perhaps we have taken our focus off God. Perhaps we have accepted falsehoods or compromised with the world that has rejected God and His Truth. Perhaps we have simply forgotten that God dwells within us and, therefore, we do not turn to Him or seek His will in all things.
If eternal life has already begun in us through God’s gift of sanctifying grace and Heaven has already begun in us through the indwelling of God, then the peace we will enjoy in Heaven should also begin and be enjoyed in us now. If the Holy Spirit is present to remind us of what Jesus taught us, the Lamb is present to enlighten us, and the Father is present to glorify us, then we should be completely at peace, living as persons conformed to God’s Truth and filled with His love!
Fr. Altier’s column appears regularly in The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly published in St. Paul, Minn. For information about subscribing to The Wanderer, please visit www.thewandererpress.com.
