Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
The scripture passage from Exodus today recalls the building of the meeting tent which housed the ark of the covenant and was the visible Dwelling place of God among his people. So important was this Dwelling that the Lord gives Moses very specific and detailed instructions concerning its fabrication with special pedestals, columns, bars, poles, and curtain veil. The writer describes in beautiful imagery how a cloud settled upon the tent and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling. Whenever the cloud lifted, it was a signal to the Israelites that they were to set out on their journey again.
This image is a prefiguration of Jesus’ dwelling within his Church, the people of God. Fr. Jacques Philippe writes in his book Time for God: “As creatures of flesh and blood, we need the support of material things in order to attain spiritual realities. God knows this, and it is what explains the whole mystery of the Incarnation. Jesus Christ’s visible, physical humanity is the expression of God’s wonderful condescension toward us” (p. 62). Christ is the visible expression of God’s presence in the Church. And we are his Mystical Body. He is the new meeting tent, the Dwelling of the Most High among his people. It is through the Church and especially through the sacraments that we human beings come into contact with the divine reality through the mediation of Christ. This is especially true in our experience of the Eucharist.
St. Paul takes this image a step further: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:19). As members of Christ’s body, we are temples, Dwelling places of the Holy Spirit. Brother Lawrence speaks of the “oratory of our heart” in his well-known book Practice of the Presence of God. God is ever present in our hearts; we need only go into this inner sanctuary and enter into conversation with Him.
A question for the day: How do I experience God’s presence in my life? Where do I meet Him?
Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections