All three readings from this Sunday have to do with the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was the central religious symbol and place for first century Jews; it was the dwelling place of the God of Israel. The Temple was where God and human beings met.
1. At the end of the first reading we hear “The word of the Lord…faith”. Priests were the privileged mediators between Yahweh and his Holy People. Jesus is the new mediator the new Temple. What you sought in the Temple you now get from Christ. The church – the mystical Body of Christ – is a continuation of Christ. The Church is the new Temple. The arrival of so many priests into the faith was a sign for the Jews that the church was becoming a priestly people. We are the church; we are the meeting place between God and humanity. The integrity of our lives the quality of our praise must be a sign of hope and place of refuge for everyone around us. We must never forget this important truth, the spiritual life of Christians is not only how I am going to benefit for myself, it always has a missionary purpose. How will it benefit other people? I must be a meeting place between God and humanity for others.
2. St. Peter in the second reading presents Jesus as the corner stone of the Temple which has been rejected and has become the foundation stone of the new Temple. Let yourselves be built in to a new Temple. We are the living stones of the new Temple. “You are a … light”. We are a royal priesthood; we are a Holy (set apart) people…light”. The preferred dwelling place of God before was the Temple now it is each one of us, the mystical body of Christ the New Temple. Let us never forget that the temple existed not for itself but for the world. Our priesthood, our holiness is for those who will come to the lord through our priesthood. Do you give good instruction to people about God? Can you instruct people in the spiritual life? Are you a source of healing? Look around and see people who need healing who need instruction and ask yourself are you a source of healing and instruction for them.
3. In the Gospel Jesus says: “There are many…” The temple in Jerusalem as a sign and symbol of the great Temple in Heaven, the place where God and humanity are perfectly reconciled “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”, The temple here on earth, the mystical body of Christ is an anticipation of the Temple in heaven, where there is perfect love, perfect communion, perfect praise. On this fifth Sunday of Easter let us reflect on the Temple in Jerusalem which is morphed into the Temple of Christ (the Church) which in turn is an anticipation of the New Temple in Heaven.