Reflection for Sunday – November 9, 2025

Sr. Karen Dietz, SSJSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3: 9c-11, 16-17; John 2: 13-22 
Preacher: Sr. Karen Dietz

Last week, while swimming laps at my local Y, I found myself composing an email to every member of Congress. Of course, this was in light of the current (as of this writing) government shutdown. Regardless of your politics, I hope that like me, you find yourself outraged at the treatment of the most vulnerable in our country and beyond.  

Today’s Gospel speaks of Jesus’ outrage at the total disregard of the sacred space that was the Temple. Coupled with the second reading from St. Paul to the Corinthians we can understand that this “temple” is much more than any architectural structure. It is the body of Christ, and I would go so far as to say it is “all of creation.”  

Pope Francis has said: “Human dignity is the same for all human beings: when I trample on the dignity of another, I am trampling on my own”. And of our care for the earth, he said: “We received this world as an inheritance from past generations, but also as a loan from future generations, to whom we will have to return it!”  

The Gospel story we are given today of Jesus in the temple with the traders and money changers is often given to us as an example of Jesus’ humanity in the showing of his temper and of his call to his followers to respect the sacred space of the Temple. He does go on to speak of his own body as a temple. When I have read and reflected on this Gospel at other times, I have not found myself so aware of the injustice Jesus was calling out and working against. I only saw this reading as pertaining to a particular situation. However, at this time in my life and in light of all that is happening in our world, I see this reading in a new and more universal light. 

The news of wars, famine, storms, fires, earthquakes and the resulting death toll, sickness and displacement leaves me speechless and feeling powerless. My prayer is one of silence amidst all that breaks my heart. Sometimes I feel as though my feet are anchored in cement, unable to move forward, unable to help. What little I can do in the face of such overwhelming distress feels like a drop in the bucket. These days of shutdown and my fears for all those needing food, healthcare, housing, and work have pushed me to a point of utter disbelief in the ability of some human beings to completely disregard other human beings.  

In the letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul asks: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, as that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person: for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” It stands to reason that if you and I are holy, all creation is holy and deserving of life. So, what is the call to us as Christians and as members of the Body of Christ? And within the call, what is yours to do, what is mine to do? 

In recent months, I have purchased items for more drives (i.e. personal care products, winter wear, etc.) and donated to more causes than ever. I don’t have a big budget to draw on, but I do have food to eat, fuel in my car and a roof over my head. When I go to the doctor, I have insurance and I can afford my medications. These realities alone put me in a place of privilege that for me demands action.  

I have tried to slow down the pace as I move through the grocery store or on city streets, keeping an eye out for someone in need. It feels as though my antenna are tuned to a different frequency altogether and I am trying so hard to really “see” and “hear” the other. I do not want my sense of powerlessness to desensitize me to the world around me. I pray for just the opposite, that I may be moved to the point of a broken heart in response to our broken world, our shattered earth and the political machine that seems deaf and blind.  

I am not alone in these efforts and there are those who can and will do so much more. We are a community of believers, and we share the call of the Gospel to reverence the Body of Christ in each person and in the earth. Scripture tells us: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” I pray that zeal is ignited in all our hearts, spurring us to prayer and action for the poor and vulnerable, indeed for all creation. This reflection is deeply personal. I offer it simply as a way of uniting my prayers and actions with those of others, so that we might gather strength and support from one another. 

Sr. Karen Dietz, SSJ
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