“Whilst we cling to stones and mortar and set places aside as holy and dedicated to God, we can easily be distracted and forget that we are temples of the Holy Spirit”. Today’s reflection from the daily Mass.
BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for Tuesday of Week 34 here (Universalis Website)
In a relatively young and rapidly growing city like Cardiff, one can always experience the demolition of one building and the rising of an another in its place. Over the last hundred years, Cardiff’s landscape has constantly changed—often losing some buildings of great historical and cultural interest along the way.
Meanwhile, those of us who are custodians of historic and important buildings know how difficult and costly it is to maintain them on limited budgets and capacity.
The fragility of the built landscape features in the gospel reading today. The temple at Jerusalem was a significant building, a focus for the Jewish people. It not only told the story of Gods people, but it was a place of encounter with God, an assurance of his presence. However, Jesus predicts that not a stone will be left standing. This would have been so difficult and outrageous for his listeners to hear. It was unimaginable and devastating.
Life is fragile, and what we once relied on as ‘given’ can often prove to be so passing. Our customs and traditions, our ways of life, our values and memories of what once were—they can all disappear, toppled like the temple walls. However, Jesus turns our lives to that which is unchangeable and forever. The heavenly Jerusalem. Whilst we cling to stones and mortar and set places aside as holy and dedicated to God, we can easily be distracted and forget that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, the place where God dwells.
MASS TODAY
Mass today on Tuesday 25 November is at S Mary’s Church at 630pm.
DAY BY DAY
If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our DAY BY DAY pages.
South Cardiff Ministry Area 