Sacred space

Podcast

• Listen to this homily

Scripture references

• Exodus 20:1-17
• 1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25
• John 2:13-25

Reflection

The sun is shining and the temperature is actually warming up these days.   Yes, we still have rather cool nights, but once the rays of the sun start to shine there is a part of us that begins to sing at the prospect of the long-awaited Spring that is just around the corner (we hope).

The season of Spring brings with it a number of rituals that many of us are very familiar with: raking the lawn, preparing flower beds around our homes for this year’s crop of colour, even cleaning up some of the clutter that has accumulated indoors over the past couple of months.

In a sense, the liturgical season of Lent is like a springtime in our spiritual lives too.  It’s an opportunity for us to identify the things that clutter our lives, to shed as many of these as we dare, and to prepare some sacred space where we will be better able to appreciate the gifts that God wants to share with us.

Our faith history has been filled with many occasions when God has shown us his willingness to help us create sacred space.  The book of Exodus, which recounts the first days of the Israelites’ relationship with God, tells us that God set down the rules right from the start.  We call those rules the Commandments (Ex 20:2-17), and they are still part of our faith lives today. 

History has also seen more than its fair share of stubbornness on the part of human beings who have found all kinds of excuses for refusing God’s invitation to live in communion with him, and there is still a part of each one of us that is rebellious, preferring to assert our own independence rather than to trust in the abiding love of the Father.

The apostle Paul knew only too well the games that he himself had played, and the many ways that we can hide from the truth that all of us need God in our lives.  We all need the gift of forgiveness, we all need to know that we are loved, but often we turn our backs just when love is staring us in the face.  We make up all kinds of excuses and in the process we fail to see that human wisdom is nothing but foolishness compared to the infinitely more profound wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:25).  Why is it that we think we can hide from Him, that we can fight against Him, that we can somehow live life on our own and only come to Him when we need Him?

Perhaps this Lent, the best gift that we can give ourselves is to surrender to the fact that even God’s weakness is stronger than our greatest strength.  Why not allow him to help us create some sacred space in our homes, in our hearts, in our relationships, in our lives.  The invitation to grow deeper in love with Him is whispered in the quiet of prayer, but the strength of the relationship which awaits us is powerful enough to overcome all obstacles.

Christ wants to cleanse us (Jn 2:15-16), to chase from our hearts all that clutters and to make room within us so that a loving relationship of prayer can be cultivated.  Then we will begin to understand that each one of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a place where the Holy One of God dwells (Jn 2:19-22).