REFLECTION:
       A story goes thus: A parish community renovated its church and dedicated it to the Mother of God. It was a billion-dollar architectural marvel. One day, an old lady, a faithful parishioner, was praying before the statue of Mother Mary inside the church. Suddenly, Mother Mary appeared to her and said, “Please ask your pastor to build a church in my honor.“ “Where, Mother?“ the lady asked in fear and trembling. “Right here,“ the Mother said, and disappeared.
       The Book of Ezra describes how the Temple of the Lord was re-built and consecrated. But such an external structure is not the primary temple of God. Paul asks rhetorically: “Don‘t you know that you yourselves are God‘s temple?“ (1 Cor 3:16). Jesus teaches the Samaritan woman: “Time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks“ (Jn 4:23). Thus, the true temple of God is a community of believers who hear the word of God and keep it. They become God‘s temple and therefore, the family of Jesus.