Family Temple

“Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge” Psalm 19 expresses the praise of the psalmist for the declaration of the Presence of God we witness in the wonder and awe of every day and every night. The Roman Catholic Lectionary today contains texts which bring our attention to the feast today of apostles, Saint Simon and Saint Jude. FriarJude Winkler draws our attention to the way in which the author of the Letter to the Ephesians describes the Gentile Christian Community in Ephesus as a living temple to God with Jesus as the capstone or cornerstone. Ephesus was the city in which Paul battled intensely against the paid preachers who were associated with the temples to Greek and Roman deities in that city. The living temple in which we are members is the Body of Christ. Friar Jude reminds us that this community is for all and the members are to reach out in the manner of the apostles and bring the broken to be the strength of this unity. Comments made by the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira at the conclusion of a biography of Simon and Jude suggest that the Tradition shows God’s consideration for legacy. The number of the apostles associated with the line of David is cited as well as the number of cousins of Jesus, including St Jude, who were in the family of apostles. Pope Francesco is quoted by Good MorningAmerica as Pope Francis breaks with tradition at a celebration of families at the Vatican. Pope Francis has decided to devote the next synod of bishops to the family. Archbishop Paglia said that this synod “ is an extraordinary sign of affection of Pope Francis for families,”. The richness, wonder and awe of life proclaimed by the psalmist is visible in the dynamics of Love, support, self sacrifice, healing and development in the human family. It is the foundation of the Living Temple in the Spirit.