Be a Window

Reflection on the Epistle from the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

This post was originally written for the Bright Maidens topic of "Honoring God with Our Bodies." Plans changed, but I still wanted to share since it relates to this past Sundays readings!

I've been wanting to get back to writing posts again, but I've been feeling a lack of inspiration lately when the time comes for me to sit down and write. As I was brainstorming this past week, I realized that I could go 15 different ways with the topic of "Honoring God with Our Bodies", which meant I would probably regale you all with another one of my novel-length posts, but I just didn't know where to start or where it would end up.

It was at Mass on Sunday when I finally felt like the thought faucet had been turned back on:

Brothers and sisters:
The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord,
and the Lord is for the body;
God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him.
Avoid immorality.
Every other sin a person commits is outside the body,
but the immoral person sins against his own body.
Do you not know that your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
For you have been purchased at a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Cor 6:13-15, 17-20)

I could write about modesty or chastity or pornography or many other things when it comes to honoring God with our bodies, but it wasn't any of these ideas that spoke to me while I listened at Mass. It was the last line of this reading especially, where St. Paul commands each of us to "glorify God in your body," that made me think more simply.

Some major son power. Heh, get it?

Have you ever met someone who just seems to radiate Christ with every fiber of his or her being? I've had the privilege of meeting and knowing quite a few people where you can just see their love for Christ reflecting from their bodies. Sure, these people dress modestly and live chaste lives, but glorifying God in your body is so much more than that. It's a sort of aura, a glow, that just emanates out and has the profound power to draw people in. It's a joy that is shown in a wide smile, loud laughter, a twinkle in the eye, a warm hug, finding happiness on even the darkest of days - not just honoring God with their bodies, but also glorifying Him in their bodies.

St. Paul asks, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?" The phrase "temple of the Holy Spirit" is something that is thrown around a lot, but do we ever stop to think what it really and truly means? Our bodies carry the Holy Spirit to the world. This is not something to take lightly. If we are truly carrying Him in our bodies, we should always be radiating His joy, grace, and love to the point that we are blinding others by reflecting His light. To truly honor God, we need to allow our bodies to be windows and not doors. Be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and glorify God in your body by letting Him shine through.