Dear Parishioners of St. James:
Praised be Jesus Christ!
The body of a baptized person in the state of grace is more holy than the most beautiful Catholic church building. A church building was made by human hands, while the human person was made holy by God Himself. God’s commandments are meant to keep our bodies as holy temples of the Holy Spirit wherein the Lord is pleased to dwell. Keeping God’s law preserves and purifies the temples that we are as Catholic Christians.
The commandments are much more than just negative proscriptions. Keeping God’s commandments is proof that you really love Him (1 Jn. 2:4). Our Lord Jesus Christ made a whip out of cords and cleansed the temple in Jerusalem as a sign of His zeal for our purity. The Lord wants to remove every kind of uncleanness that pollutes the temples that we are as believers. The Sacrament of Confession gives Jesus the opportunity to cleanse our temples. Bring yourself (your temple) to Jesus our High Priest for purification by confessing your sins and receiving God’s merciful pardon. As God says to us in His Word, “Zeal for your house consumes me” (cf. Ps. 69:9).
Allow Jesus into your temple in order for Him to drive out anything that displeases Him. We were made to worship the Lord in a cleansed temple made holy by the Sacrament of Baptism and continually cleansed through the Sacrament of Penance. After being purified, we can receive Christ’s Body and Blood in our temples as a dwelling wherein the Lord is pleased to dwell.
God bless you,
Fr. Geary
Saint James Catholic Church 