9th November2014 Sunday Reading & Meditation. DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA Reading : Ezekiel 47:1-9,12; 1 Corinthians 3:9-13,16-17; He spoke of the temple of his body Gospel : John 2:13-22 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, Take these things away; you shall not make my Fathers house a house of trade. 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for thy house will consume me. 18 The Jews then said to him, What sign have you to show us for doing this? 19 Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 The Jews then said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days? 21 But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. Meditation: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; Ps 45; 1 Corinthians 3:9-13, 16-17; John 2:13-22: Today we celebrate the dedication of the mother of all churches of the west. Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. Today’s feast is an occasion for us to ask ourselves how dedicated we are in living in a manner befitting a spiritual house of God. The Lateran Basilica of the Most Holy Saviour was erected by Emperor Constantine about the year 324 on the Lateran hill where stood the palace of the Laterani family of nobles. It was passed to Emperor Constantine through his wife Fausta, and the Emperor who recognized Christianity as the official religion of his Empire, donated the property to Pope St Melchiades. The Lateran Basilica is the oldest of the four great patriarchal basilicas of Rome. It is also the first in rank among all the churches of the West because it is the cathedral of Rome, the See of the successors of Peter. It was the official seat of the bishop of Rome for a thousand years, from the IV to the XIV century. For centuries the Popes celebrated solemn pontifical liturgies here, and this church had a formative influence on the liturgies of all the churches of the West. It is called the Mother of all Churches because it is the model of all Churches, not only because it generates children in baptism but also because, through missionary commitment, it generates other Churches and communities. To celebrate the feast of this Church therefore means to go back to the roots and historical evolution that make us Christians and members of a local Church. Our local church is an offspring of Mother Church represented by the Church of Rome whose historical seat was the Lateran Basilica. We, the living members of our local Church, have the responsibility to make it, like Mother Church, the mother of other churches and communities, getting out of the four walls of the church building and the geographical limits of the community, to open ourselves to the entire world. At the same time, we must not forget that God does not live in temples made by human hands. His favourite living place is the human heart. “Do you not realize that you are a temple of God with the Spirit of God living in you” (1 Cor 3:16)? God has come to the world in Jesus not to rest in any temple, even the most beautiful, artistic and expensive one, but to be active and involved in the thoughts, affections and actions of the faithful. In today’s Gospel reading we see Jesus purifying the Temple of Jerusalem because the temple authorities were turning the house of his Father into a market place. This grandiose Temple was the highest glory of Judaism. The cleansing of the temple would cost Jesus his very life. “Destroy this temple, and I will build it up in three days,” he says, indicating that he would rise again on the third day after he was crucified and killed. In the New testament the Jewish temple building is now replaced by the new temple, the body of Christ. There is in the New Covenant no Temple building. All the religious signi-ficance in Judaism that was attached to the Temple is now shifted to another centre: Jesus. It is in him that humanity meets God in all circumstances and necessities. The Temple is now the Christian community which is the Risen Body of Christ. “Who sees you, sees Me.” So it is important in today’s celebration that we recall who we are and how we are to be and seen to be the Temple of Christ’s Body for the world. The First Reading is from the prophet Ezekiel and is part of a beautiful image of fresh water flowing out from the Temple in Jerusalem and bringing new life and fertility to wherever it flows. “Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.” And again, “along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail…” It is an image of the Temple of Jerusalem as a source of life for all. And in today’s celebration it points to the life that comes to the world through the communities which gather together in a church like St John Lateran and all our cathedrals and parish churches. Again, it is not the building which is the source of life but the community which gathers together there. In the Second Reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks very strongly of the Christian community as the true Temple of God. “We are God’s co-workers, while you are his cultivation, his building.” Paul sees himself as a builder but it is not a building of bricks and mortar he is erecting but a building of people. And he is only initiating the building work; others will take over from him and continue it. And this building of people can have only one foundation and that is Jesus Christ. And he concludes in words that leave no room for doubt. “Are you not aware that you are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s Temple, God will destroy him. For the Temple of God is holy and you are that Temple.” So, in celebrating today’s feast, we are being called on to focus more on the kind of Temple that we are than on the building, however important and beautiful it may be. In the beginning there were no churches; people met in each other’s homes for the Eucharist. Church buildings became necessary because of growing numbers. In fact, if St John Lateran, St Peter’s and all the churches in the world were to collapse into ruins, the real Temple of God would continue – in us. “Wherever two or three are gathered together in my Name, I am there among them. St Peter says, we too are to be “living stones making a spiritual house as a holy priesthood to offer the spiritual sacrifices made acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5). Lord Jesus Christ, you open wide the door of your Father’s house and you bid us to enter confidently that we may worship in spirit and truth. Help me to draw near to your throne of mercy with gratitude and joy. **** 1st Reading. Ezekiel 47:1-9,12: The River From the Temple 47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits[a] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist.5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah,[b] where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” 2nd Reading. 1 Corinthians 3:9-13 9 For we work together with God. You are God’s field. You are God’s building also. 10 Through God’s loving-favor to me, I laid the stones on which the building was to be built. I did it like one who knew what he was doing. Now another person is building on it. Each person who builds must be careful how he builds on it. 11 Jesus Christ is the Stone on which other stones for the building must be laid. It can be only Christ. 12 Now if a man builds on the Stone with gold or silver or beautiful stones, or if he builds with wood or grass or straw, 13 each man’s work will become known. There will be a day when it will be tested by fire. The fire will show what kind of work it is. 3:16-17. 16 Do you not know that you are a house of God and that the Holy Spirit lives in you?17 If any man destroys the house of God, God will destroy him. God’s house is holy. You are the place where He lives. Psalm 46:1-8 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. [Selah] 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. [Selah] 8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has wrought desolations in the earth. >
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 02:13:05 +0000
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