Restored and better than before

The text from the Roman Catholic Lectionary from the Book of Haggai promises the returned exiles that the rebuilding of the Temple will result in greater splendor than the formerly known among them. This splendor will be experienced in the renewal of the relationship of their indwelling Spirit with the Spirit of God. The psalmist echoes this hunger and yearning of people for intimacy with God as he petitions God to send out His light and bring him in exceeding joy to the house of the Lord. Int the Gospel of Luke, Peter is stirred by the resonance of his indwelling Spirit with the Spirit of Jesus to proclaim Jesus as the "Messiah of God". This breakthrough in Peter's experience of the Divine is truly both joyful and radically counter cultural. The joy of proclaiming truth trumps fears of not conforming to the cultural expectations.