GOD DWELLS IN HIS TEMPLE!

(Homily for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica)

Beloved in Christ, today, instead of our usual Sunday liturgy, we are celebrating the feast of the dedication of the mother of all Churches: the Lateran Basilica in Rome, near the Lateran palace. The Basilica of St. John Lateran was built by Emperor Constantine after his conversion, and it was dedicated on the 9th November, 324 to the Most Holy Saviour, with Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist as patrons.The Basilica in question is the first and oldest Basilica, little wonder it is considered the mother and head of all Churches. Similarly, it is the Pope’s Cathedral as the Bishop of Rome.

The dedication of this Basilica marked the passage and the moving out of the christian assemble from the catacombs to the big Basilicas. The idea of building a temple for God, started from the Old Testament, first of all when they needed a place to keep the Ark of the covenant and where due worship can be given to God. This was undertaken and completed by King Solomon (1 Kings 6:1). However, this feast is therefore not the commemoration of a building, but the celebration of the mystery of the Church as the people of God, the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the “Church” with a capital letter, made up of redeemed men and women. The liturgical readings for this Sunday shed light on this meaning.

In today’s first reading (Ezekiel 47:1-2.8-9.12) the prophet recounted his vision about the temple especially with particular reference to the water that flows from the eastern part of the temple reaching out to the Arabah and the stagnant water. The water is so powerful that it brings about life and vitality for both plants and animals. Hence it could be said that the water from the temple recreates and renews creation, and makes it anew. It is obvious that this water is not an ordinary water, rather it is symbolic of the blessings flowing from God, it flows from God’s house to the house of his people. It is a life-giving water, little wonder the psalmist tells us that “there is a river its water gives joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells”.

In the Second Reading (1 Cor. 3:9-11,16-17) St. Paul tries to shift the paradigm a bit. He reminds us of what we often tend to forget; and that is the fact, that we are God’s temple. Some find it difficult to comprehend this designation, but when we go to the book of Genesis, we are made to understand that God created us in His image and likeness (cf. Gen. 1:27). As such, today we have the opportunity to interrogate ourselves on the meaning of the Church or Temple (edifice) in which we gather every day and Person-Temple (for our body is the Temple of God). Indeed, today we are called to meditate on the mystery of the temple.

Today’s Gospel (John 2:13-22) takes up the image of the temple and applies it to the body of Jesus. Jesus drives out the merchants and money changers from the temple to emphasise the revelation He is about to bring: the new temple. Jesus blew hot on them and concluded that the house of God should be a place of prayer and not a den of robbers. Therein, the evangelist explains that Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body. The true temple is no longer made of stone, but of flesh: it is his humanity, in which God has made his dwelling. In Christ, God definitively encounters man. The Son of Man is the new holy place, in constant communication with the Father, the true ‘presence’ of God among his people. Jesus is Temple-personified.

Dear friends in Christ, let us ask ourselves this vital question: what does the temple stand for us: a place of worship or a place of encounter with God or a business centre? Again, what does the dedication of the Church mean for the christian community?  In the Catholic tradition, the Church building is not just a hall for fellowship.  It is a sacred space.  It is the abode of God, where the presence of God is made very tangible by the presence of the Eucharist. The Church is the focus point of the believing community: the Body of Christ.  Symbolically the Church itself is the Body of Christ. This is the major theme of the Gospel narrative of today, where Jesus replaces the Temple of Jerusalem with his own body. The Temple-building, which for the people of Israel, represented the presence of the Lord God has now become redundant.  God is present here and now in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. There is a kind of a shift from temple-building to temple-person, and in this optics, we too are His temples.

Thus, there is no need for the money changers to assist the people to offer the shekel in the temple; there is no need of the pigeon-sellers to facilitate the sacrifice in the temple.  Just turn around, look at him: the Word that has taken flesh (Jn 1:14). And believe in Him as the Son of God. Why don’t we welcome Jesus today to cleanse this temple too?  Let us usher Him in to clean our churches and this temple that is our body. The Feast of today challenges us to recognise our personal baptismal identity as temples of the Holy Spirit, and to confirm that identity by the way we live. 

Let us beckon on our Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse and renew us with the life-giving streams of mercy and love that flow from His throne, so that we may become true temples of the Spirit.

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)