Temples of the Spirit

A Reflection on the Second Reading for January 17th, 2021:
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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1 Corinthians
6.13c-15a, 17-20

Brothers and sisters: The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

“For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body”


"Girls, your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, you better treat them well!"

I can still picture in my mind our German religion teacher, Sister Ludwigis, saying that to us over and over again, like a broken record, when we were in grade 5. In grade 6, we had Sister Narcisa saying the same thing. Little did we know the challenges that we were to meet as we began our teenage life.

These challenges remain the same, whatever decade we are in. As bright eyed and bushy tailed teenagers, set to conquer the world, it was easier then to remain faithful to our teachers’ admonitions by following what we were taught: to say a prayer during times of challenges and temptations.

Fast forward to today… I would say that we still need God’s help, counsel, and guidance amidst all the temptations around us brought about by a free society and an abundance of influences made accessible through social media. God is very much present in our lives, in the midst of this, if only we call on Him or even recognize that He is with us. In the company of our peers, sometimes what did not seem to be acceptable before seems okay now because everyone’s doing it.

Trying to lead moral lives for God is commendable, and difficult. But if we pray for God's help, we are given strength to achieve this. There are times, however, when we do not realize that the seemingly harmless things we are doing are actually detrimental to our health. Over indulgence in junk food, or drinking heavily during parties and get-togethers (especially when there is an open bar) is socially acceptable. Sometimes a party is not over until everyone is drunk or high. I remember a time when, after work (especially on a Friday night) we would stop by a nearby bar and consume about a pitcher of margarita each before we decided we were ready to go home. By that time we could not even walk straight!

Were we glorifying God with our bodies with such behaviour? I don’t think so! We were opening ourselves to further temptations as well as to illness.

During times of temptation and over indulgence, there is a small voice inside us telling us that what we are doing is not right. When we decide to stop what we are doing, it means that we are listening to that voice. When we continue, we have ignored that voice. Needless to say, in my past ignorance, glorifying God was not on my mind.

We need to continually arm ourselves with God's words — clothe ourselves in prayer — to be able to live a life of giving glory to God with our bodies. Temptations of the flesh are plenty and we need to be aware of them. We need to trust God and to always be conscious of His tiny, gentle voice guiding us in the things that we do everyday.

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Liz Venezuela

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