Twenty-Fifth Monday of Ordinary Time

All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, whoever among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place he may have dwelt, be assisted by the people of that place with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, together with free-will offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.

We are all charged with building temples to God within ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ. We do this in various ways through our virtues, our gifts, and our generosity toward others. Our every thought, word, and work should have building up the Kingdom of God as its aim or at the very least be offered up for this purpose through prayer. We build temples to our Lord and God through our acts of charity and mercy, through our choice to do what is right rather than what is wrong, and through following the teachings of Jesus in spite of what the world tells us to do. We build up the faith in others through spending our time, talents, and treasures ministering to them through great and small acts of evangelization and kindness.

Have we made our hearts into temples to God? What can we do to build up the faith in others? How can we become builders of the faith?

O Lord, help us to build a house to you within our hearts.

Amen.