Monuments of faith

Podcast

• Listen to this homily

Scripture references

• Ezekiel 47: 1, 2, 8-9, 12

• 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11, 16-17

• John 2: 13-22
  

Reflection

Just one week after the Solemnity of All Souls, we find ourselves once again in the midst of a different sort of celebration.  This week, the liturgy for the Commemoration of the Dedication of Saint John Lateran takes the place of the normal Sunday liturgy.  As I explained last week, the Sunday liturgy is accorded such supreme importance in our liturgical life that it is only changed when we celebrate major Solemnities … so what’s so special about thisE day?

The city of Rome welcomes millions of tourists each year.  Some of them might be interested in the history of how it has come to be, but very few people will visit Rome and not make a point of touring the Vatican.  It’s true that Vatican City is the place of residence for the Pope, and that most major liturgical events in the life of the Church take place there, but St. Peter’s Basilica is not the Cathedral of Rome.  This honour belongs to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran.

Located on the Lateran Hill, the Lateran palace, once the home of Roman aristocracy, it was given to the Church in the fourth century by the Emperor Constantine and once served both as the Cathedral of Rome and the residence of the Popes.  The Lateran Basilica is therefore, even to this day, a visible reminder of the very earliest days of the Church and connects us with the living history which continues to function even in our modern time.

Knowing that we are currently making plans for major restoration to the bell towers and roof of this building, the references in today’s readings to the temple in Jerusalem as a place where the waters of life flow abundantly (Ez 47:1-12) strike a particularly interesting chord.  Like the temple in Jerusalem, and like the Lateran Basilica, this place too is a place where people come to celebrate the joys of life, to seek comfort and consolation in times of distress, and to find God who feeds us and walks with us on our journey.

It’s extremely important to keep a place specifically dedicated to the encounter of the human with the divine.  Sacred spaces must always be treated with respect, for they allow us to identify the holiness within.  Without them, human beings easily fall prey to the temptation to believe that all places can be sacred, but when there are no limits, the sacred becomes increasingly illusive.  That’s why Jesus got so angry when he found that the Father’s house was being overrun with moneychangers and vendors (Jn 2:15-16).

Saint Paul told the community at Corinth that they themselves were God’s building (1 Cor 3:10).  Christ continues even today to build his Church using living stones.  The foundation that we rest on is Jesus himself, but we ourselves must continue the process of constructing this living temple (Jn 2:19-21) by striving every day to live holy lives, by seeking out opportunities to be of service to others, by finding occasions to identify the talents that have been entrusted to each one of us, and sharing these talents with our parish, our families, our friends and acquaintances, and most importantly with the strangers who seek, the widows who mourn, the children who question, and the orphans of our time who look to us for help.