space and time for god - 25th week tuesday

Our first reading from the Book of Ezra narrates to us the rebuilding of the temple 70 years after it was destroyed by the Babylonians, 70 years after the exile.  Despite the encouragement and support of Persian Kings Cyrus and Darius, it took them years to rebuild the temple.  There were delayed by Samaritans who opposed the building of the temple and also by the preoccupation by the returning Israelites to rebuild their homes first.  Finally after several years the temple was finished and the great festivities in dedicating the temple begun.  The temple could not compare to the grandiose temple built by Solomon but this structure would last for more than 500 years.  This is the same temple which Herod would beautify, this is the same temple where Jesus would be offered and where he would preach, and still later this would be the temple which the Roman General Titus would destroy on 70 AD never to be rebuilt again till this day.

Temples and churches are important.  By building churches we provide space for God, specifically we provide space for our encounter with God.  Feast days and holy days are important.  By appointing day of feasts and holy days we provide time for God, specifically we provide a specific time for our encounter with God.

But you see these are just outward, tangible signs.  These spaces and times point us to a deeper and more important reality.  And what are these realities?  In our life do we provide space for God?  In our day do we provide time for God?  Many times our lives are too filled up so much so that when we lie in our beds we’re just too exhausted and too sleepy we cannot even say an Our Father or a Hail Mary anymore.  Yes churches are important, shrines are important but they can only be truly and authentically important when in our life God has a place and in our lives God is given time.

This chapel can only resonate in our selves when in our hearts there is also that uncluttered space, a sacred sanctuary where God resides and where God is encountered.  This chapel’s sacredness can only resonate in our selves when in our lives there is also that place of honor where God is revered, in whose presence we are even afraid to think of sin.  This chapel’s cleanliness and precious objects can only resonate in our selves when in our hearts God, the sacred objects we see and the words we read and hear are valued, when in our hearts these are considered precious, valuable and inviolate.

In the city with all the money around, it is easy to build a church and to decorate it so that it would fascinate the senses.  But that is never really the purpose of building churches.  More and more you see people up in arms fighting to preserve the antique look and feel of their parish churches.  But look again, in just a few seconds the beautiful churches of Bohol are gone – gone forever.  Structures of stone and earth will pass.  But a people who continue to provide space and time for God in their hearts, will always find the means to create space and time for God in the world. 

Value churches, but value more that space and time which you provide in your hearts for God.