I Am the Temple of the Lord: Dedication Of the Lateran Basilica
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – The Dedication Of the Lateran Basilica
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: The dedication of the Lateran Basilica! I am the temple of the Lord!
Point of Reflection: Today, we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St John Lateran in Rome. Why celebrate the dedication of a church in faraway Rome? It is to remind us of the importance of the church building as a sacred space set apart for personal and collective encounter with God.
Historically, the basilica of St John Lateran is the oldest Church of Rome and the highest-ranking church in the world. As such it is the mother of all churches. When we celebrate its dedication to God, therefore, we celebrate the mystery of God’s special presence and indwelling in buildings set apart for divine worship, including our own parish church. The first Lateran Basilica was built in the time of the Emperor Constantine. Many of the Church Councils from the 7th to the 16th century were held there. It was known as the “mother and head of all the churches of the city (Rome) and of the world.” It is the Pope’s church and the basilica of Rome. As such, it has functioned as a sign of unity for all Christians from the 4th century and has the potential to function in this way for all Catholic Christians in our times.
First Reading: Ez 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12
Psalm: Ps 46: 2-3, 5-6, 8-9
Second Reading: 1 Cor 3: 9-11, 16-17
Gospel: Jn 2: 13-22
Sermon (Reflection): The Gospel reading of today from John reminds us that we must have utmost respect to the holiest places like the Church. The selection from John’s gospel presents Jesus driving the moneychangers and the merchants from the Temple precinct in Jerusalem. These people had a legitimate function there, but some were more interested I financial gain than in respect for the Temple as God’s dwelling place and as
a locus of worship. As Christians, are we not doing business in our Churches in our parishes? Are we not only seeing money when we go to Church? Jesus Christ is reminding us all Christians that we need to respect the Church, and we must also remember that our hearts are also Churches, and we need to respect our bodies too.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus affirms the Temple as God’s ‘house’. He goes on to speak of the temple of his body that God will “raise up” after three days. The gospel is thus a subtle reminder that the building is God’s house only if our lives are congruent with what the building signifies. In Paul’s theology, the church and its members are “God’s building”. The term “church” has come to designate both the architectural edifice and the believers who assemble for worship. The building plays a crucial role in raising our hearts and minds to God and in leading us to deep respect for all of God’s creation.
As Christians, are we not God’s temples? The second reading of today from Corinthians responds to this fundamental question. St Paul tells us that “My brothers and sisters: You are God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.”
That reality of becoming a Temple of God’s Holy presence happens through baptism, when we, like a Church, are consecrated to be a place where God dwells, is worshipped, loved, and treasured, where the Word of God resonates, where sacrifices of praise are made to God and from which sacrifices for others are launched. But the temple we become is not meant to be a static reality. We’re supposed to be constantly growing, constantly reforming, constantly rebuilding, constantly being more fittingly adorned as a temple of God’s presence. This is alluded to in today’s first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel.
Ezekiel sees a vision of water trickling from the eastern side of the Temple down toward the Arabah, the sandy 20-mile desert that separates Jerusalem from the Dead Sea. The Angel takes Ezekiel another 1000 cubits and the water is now ankle deep; another 500 yards, and it’s knee deep; yet another 50,0 and it’s up to his waist; a final 500, and it had become a river over his head so that he could only swim across it. And along its path, it brought all types of life to the desert as it flowed into the Dead Sea, thus, where no marine life can survive because it’s 20 times the salinity of the ocean, and raised that body of water literally from the Dead, making it fresh and allowing all types of fish to live in it again. This is an image of the Christian life of the baptised. On the day of our baptism, we receive a trickle of the Living Water flowing from the true Temple’s Jesus, the font of sacramental life for the Church.
Christian Act in Word of God “Am I the temple of God?”
We become ever more the temple of God, the dwelling place of the Most High, when we literally receive God within during Holy Communion. We become God’s holy dwelling place. This is where the water flowing from Christ’s side, “the waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High” flows at full force within us. This is the place in which God the Father, the Master Builder, builds us on his Son. Every time we receive Holy Communion it’s meant to be a rededication of the temple we have become as God the Father gives us here the grace to help us become an ever more solid living stone on Christ the cornerstone, living within us. And he wants to help us to do our part, like St. Francis, to hold up the Lateran Basilica, and all that it symbolises.
We know that God is everywhere. Yet when the people of God erect a building and dedicate it totally to God’s service, God’s glory comes to dwell in that building in such a way that the building can now be called the house of God. So, while we celebrate God’s special indwelling in a temple, we must remind ourselves that God’s presence is not confined in the temple. God is still everywhere, but shows His glory in a special way in some persons, places, and things. A temple or church is one such place. To help us realise this, the Vatican Council II introduced some changes in worship such as the priest facing the people at Mass and worshippers exchanging the sign of peace. However, we must not lose the sense of the church as a sacred place, we need to hold on to those practices which remind us that God is present. How do we prepare ourselves for Mass? Do we sign ourselves with the Holy Water? Do we genuflect or bow to the altar or the tabernacle before taking our seat or before leaving the church? We gather as a Community to help each other to pray and hold our world before the Lord.
Today, the liturgy celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, called “mother and head of all the churches of the city and the world.”
Action: I choose to be the temple of the Lord in my heart!
Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your Church, where our hearts need to dwell. As Jesus Christ chased those who were selling goods in the Church, help us also to clean our hearts and our churches so that they should not be places of doing trade and business but should be places of holiness. As we commemorate the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the mother and the head of all the Churches, we ask you to strengthen our unity in the Church and give us grace to be temples of Christ. We ask this through Christ our Lord, the saviour, Amen.
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