Homily: July 27, 2024, Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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 "This is the temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!"

In the first reading, we hear Jeremiah making this exclamation repeatedly and fervently. 

And in the responsorial psalm, we too repeated, “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!”

In times of war and disaster around the world, when common folks lose their homes or safety, very often many would seek shelter and safety in churches. The temple of the Lord is indeed a safe place, not just for the body and mind, but more importantly, for the soul.

We have many beautiful churches all around the world, old and new. Our very own SAC is an old but grand and beautiful building. I have seen many visitors' faces light up as they enter and admire the architecture, the organ, the stained glass, everything.

From the first reading, it is clear that the temple of the Lord is not just about the physical building, it is also about the community. Being part of this community, we are all called to ‘thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds’ as Jeremiah spoke boldly on behalf of the Lord.

When Bishop Barron addressed the Eucharistic Congress, he greeted, “Hello, fellow sinners.” On one of his first general audiences, Pope Francis too began his talk with this description: “the church is full of sinners, a sinful pope, sinful cardinals, sinful bishops and priests, sinful deacons, and sinful laity.”

We all are sinners, and we form the body of the church. But we do not remain sinful, we come to church to be reformed, to be changed, to become more and more like the Head of the church – Jesus Christ, who is Holy. In other words, we all are work-in-progress journeying toward holiness.

We are wheat sown by the Lord, struggling to grow while being surrounded by weeds planted by the evil one. God allows them to grow alongside the wheat, because He does not want to sacrifice our survival in the process of weeding out evil. He waits patiently for us to reach perfection, and it will be time for separating and harvesting.

As we continue in our pursuit of holiness, let us never be discouraged by the evil we see around us but be focused on receiving as much graces as we can absorb as nutrients for our spiritual strength and always look to the light of God’s word for our direction for growth.

Our goal is heaven, our destiny is eternity. We believe and trust firmly in God’s promise that the gates of hades will never prevail against His temple, the church.

We are the temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!

Amen.


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