“It is written: My house will be a house of prayer. And you made him a den of thieves.” And he taught daily in the temple » Lk 19, 45-46. And which place to stand? To the place of the expelled or the expelled? Doesn’t the place of the outcast belong to us, at least sometimes? There is a threefold temple: the material temple, the human temple, and the Church. The building is a temple not only in its style, but especially in its purpose, what it is dedicated to, and what happens in it. This makes it different from a factory, a department store, or an entertainment company. The temple is a place of God’s presence, prayer, and sacrifice. Every temple must be protected from pollution and desecration. It is necessary to take care of it regularly. Otherwise, it will start. In bad weather, we clean our shoes on a mat in the temple vestibule.
Lord, when I enter your temple, help me to get rid of all materialistic, worldly, and business concerns already in the hall so that I can come before you with a free and pure heart. And when those material worries get to the altar with me, let it be like our daily bread got to the Lord’s Prayer. But we are also a temple. Somewhere, the vestibule ends; somewhere, the sanctuary begins, the place of God’s presence, prayer, and sacrifice. Your word is like a barnacle that relentlessly shows what does not belong in the temple, what has moved there over time due to our inattention.
Chasing is a tough act. It is easier not to let in than to expel. The more careful the inspection at the entrance, the less is left to remove. The Church is also a temple. It also needs cleaning. Which temple should be cleaned first? The big one or our little one? It is sure that whoever cleans his small temple also indirectly tends to the big one, the Church. There is usually no other way for us, little ones. I have the most fantastic right to the scourge on myself.
