Daily Readings - Sun Nov 09 2025
Ezekiel
1The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.2He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.8He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh.9Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.12Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."
1 Corinthians
9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
John
13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"21But the temple he had spoken of was his body.22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter powerful imagery and profound truths about God’s presence among His people. Ezekiel’s vision of water flowing from the temple symbolizes the life-giving power of God’s Spirit, transforming even the most desolate places into sources of abundant life. This vision is a promise of renewal and hope, reminding us that God’s grace can bring fertility and vitality to our lives and communities.
In the second reading, St. Paul speaks of the Church as God’s temple, with each of us as living stones built upon the foundation of Christ Jesus. He warns us to be careful how we build upon this foundation, for the temple of God is holy, and we are that temple. This emphasizes the importance of living in a way that honors God, recognizing that our bodies and our community are sacred spaces where the Spirit of God dwells.
The Gospel takes us to the Temple in Jerusalem, where Jesus drives out the merchants and moneychangers, declaring, “My Father’s house shall be a house of prayer.” This dramatic action points to the deeper truth that the true temple is not a building but the Body of Christ. Jesus’ words, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” reveal that His own body is the new temple, the source of life and healing for all humanity.
These readings invite us to reflect on how we live as temples of the Holy Spirit. Are we sources of life and healing, or have we allowed worldly concerns to clutter our hearts? Let us strive to maintain the holiness of God’s temple within us, living in a way that reflects the zeal of Christ for His Father’s house. May we be renewed by the living waters of the Spirit and become instruments of God’s healing and grace in the world.