My heart leaped up when I read the prayer of Solomon in the temple, a part of which makes up to-day's First Reading. One of the great joys of a place of worship like the temple or a church or a cathedral is their size and height. Sounds of prayers and praise seem to go straight up to God. On their way they fill an enormous space with joy, hope and promise.

With respect I say that at the moment of his prayer Solomon was at his very best. In a cathedral or a large church we, too, can be at our best, filled at least for a short time with joy and hope for the future.

How then can the people in today's Gospel who spent so much time in the temple have become so narrow, small-minded and even hypocritical?

Perhaps, through routine and a certain casual familiarity, they had lost a feeling for the meaning of the temple and an awareness of the One who had given it that meaning. That loss of meaning could have led to a loss of meaning in the holy things they did. To continue to do even holy things which have lost their meaning can lead to empty practice, pride and even hypocrisy.

Jesus is the ultimate temple. In him we can pay true worship to God. As a result, when we sing and pray in our soaring churches and cathedrals our joy is more likely to be sincere and to issue in service and love of others.