It is 9th November 2017. We celebrate the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica in the city of Rome. It is the cathedral parish for the Pontiff. It was built way before St. Peter’s Basilica. It is dedicated to the Most Holy Saviour and St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist in 324AD. It is the mother and the head of all the churches in Rome and the world. By celebrating the dedication, we too dedicate our local churches and our spiritual temple the body to the Redeemer. The readings are Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12, and the second reading is from 1Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; and the Gospel from John 2:13-22. The first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel points out that the temple has to be life giving having the streams of God’s creative energy flowing from within to all who come in contact with the space. It is place of transformation and the irreplaceable organ of the formation of the souls and societies. Human life will be futile and meaningless when it refuses to infuse the power and the force of life giving presence of God from the same temple. It is the healing rays of the presence of God that every human being is in need in every sphere of one’s lives. The abiding and life-giving presence of God to be the centre of our existence. Yes, we all are challenged and haunted by the evil every moment of our lives. Unless and until we allow the living presence of God to flow into our lives, our lives could remain like parched land, a desert. The responsorial Psalm praises, “The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.” (Ps.46:5). St. Paul strengthens each one of us telling that we are God’s temple in which the Spirit of God dwells. Faith in Jesus is the foundation of the same personal and intimate temple. God will not tolerate the one who willfully abusing the space that belongs to God. In the Gospel, Jesus demonstrates the need for cleansing the temple of God. Every temple needs the spiritual cleansing. When money and business become the centre of our discussions, it corrupts the sanctity of the temple. A temple devoid of regular cleansing could become the courtyard of the business. Reducing the power of the temple to business and corporate circle is the evil needs to be cleansed in every temple starting from within each one of us. “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” (1 Cor.3:17). Whichever parish we belong, we need to examine and see, whether our spiritual courtyards are commercial places or a fountain of prayer? May God grant us courage to cleanse us and around.