St. Paul reminds us in today's first reading, Ephesians 2: 19-22, that we are "no longer strangers" nor are we "sojourners," that that we are "being built into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." What does all of this mean? First of all, we are not strangers to the Lord. A stranger would not take time to visit, would not enter a stranger's house, would not be known by the other. On the contrary, to God, we are a friend. We have permanent residence with the Lord, existing in the very core of God's Being, held in the palm of His hand. We are friends who are always welcome, persons God confides in, speaks to heart to heart. We are part of "structure "held together" and growing "into a temple sacred in the Lord."
We are "being built into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." What building materials is the Lord using? God uses the materials from my life: its mud, its cement, its clay, its brilliant and dull colors, its woodiness, its softness, its pearls and diamonds--everything that makes me who I am in my strengths and weaknesses, my successes and failures, my ups and downs! Everything! The "mud" God changes into grace. The earthy elements into diamonds and other pearls of great price. He uses my vulnerabilities and weaknesses and creates strengths that support me to become pillar of truth and goodness needed in situations lacking these "pearls."
You and I need to bring these mundane materials to the Lord to be transformed by grace. Nothing is "not good enough." God never disapproves of what I bring Him. And, yes, all I have to bring are my weaknesses and my sinfulness. God uses these to grow me into the best version of myself, into "a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
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