A
parishioner who had an attitude approached her pastor and said,
“Father, I want to go on a pilgrimage and climb to the top of Mt. Sinai.
I’m sure God will be pleased to have me visit the place where He gave
the Ten Commandments.”
The pastor replied, “Frankly, I think He will be more pleased when you begin obeying the Ten commandments.”
Sometimes
we have this simplistic notion that if I go to a holy site, I become
automatically holy by osmosis. Not necessarily. A person’s sanctity is
not determined by one’s presence in a holy place. A person’s sanctity is
determined by his capacity to make a place holy.
The
antiphon of today’s Psalm proclaims: “I rejoiced when I heard them say:
let us go to the house of the Lord.” The house of the Lord goes beyond
the confines of the walls of Jerusalem. The house of the Lord is where
people gather and celebrate and create the Shalom (peace) of God. The
psalmist proclaims: “May peace reign in your walls, in your palaces
peace.” He who brings peace, builds the house of the Lord. He who keeps
peace sustains the house of the Lord. This peace is not simply the
absence of conflict. This peace is the fruit of a life lived in
observance of God’s life-giving law.
Are
you sad that you’re not financially blessed to visit the Lord’s house
in Jerusalem? Why not make your own home an experience of the house of
the Lord? Make peace, keep peace and work for peace, then you will
always be in the house of the Lord!
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Is your idea of sanctity geographical? Is your awareness of God’s presence confined to a place, a time or an activity?
“Where
can I run from Your love? If I climb to the heavens You are there. If I
fly to the sunrise or sail beyond the sea, still I find You there.
Amen!”
