Teaching in the Treasury of the Temple

Most of today’s Gospel is an apparently insoluble argument between Jesus and His co-religionists.  Life at times, too, can seem like an intractable back-and-forth.  But Christ precedes what would seem to be frustration with the brilliant declaration:  “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  And once the claims and denials have been exchanged, we finally find out the setting in which it all took place:

“He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area.”

It is a great joy to know in faith that the One Who first created the whole world by saying, “Let there be light” has become flesh to bring illumination to whatever we must face---even, in my case, if this has meant facing the mandibular troubles and healing of my face.  It is also an ultimate consolation to know that our lives together are intended by Christ to constitute the infinitely precious and endlessly circulating treasure in the Temple of the Church. 

My reflections this Lent are each and all premised on these “alpha” and “omega” truths.  Whether we know it or not, we go about our business today under Christ’s beneficent light, drawing as need be from His treasure, even as we by His grace are given to make our own contribution to it.  The first thing one does in the orthodontist’s chair is place oneself under the bright light so that everything, good and bad, can be optimally seen.  And then one is literally handed sunglasses, because in the end---as the song goes--- the “future’s so bright I gotta wear shades!”