9 February 2026 – Monday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time
HOMILY
King David wanted to build a temple for God. With both genuine simplicity and a certain arrogance, he said to himself, after building a palace for himself: “Here I am living in a palace, and God lives in a tent.” God sent the prophet to tell him: "It is not you who will build me a palace. I will build you a house," meaning a dynasty.
It was Solomon, son of David, who built the Temple of the Lord. The text we have just heard as the first reading describes the dedication of this first temple in Jerusalem. The first element of this dedication consists in fetching the Ark of the Covenant – also called the Ark of the Meeting – which is in Zion, to place it in the Temple.
This account is rich in symbolic detail. I will mention only two. The first is the mention that there was nothing in the ark ‘except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Mount Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites’. This ‘nothing’ is very important. It is when we empty our hearts and enter into this emptiness that we discover God's will for us, that is, His love for us, and that the ‘Encounter’ can take place. The second important symbol in this text is that of the ‘dark cloud’ in which the glory resides.
In all spiritual traditions, there have always been two categories of mystics: those of light and those of cloud or darkness. The former are fascinated by everything that can be known about God; the latter are fascinated by the fact that God is infinitely greater and other than anything that can be known or experienced.
In the New Covenant, the Temple of the Old Covenant loses all its meaning and fades away before Christ, of whom it was only a figure. A few days ago, on the feast of the Presentation, we celebrated the Encounter between humanity and God, in the person of Jesus, the Incarnate Word. The Gospel we have just read shows us how this encounter brings new life and healing to all wounded humanity. It was enough for the infirm to touch the fringe of Jesus' cloak to be healed. In a few moments, we will receive communion from His body. Let us come to him with all our wounds, confident that we will receive healing and new life.
Armand VEILLEUX