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| St. John Lateran Basilica, Photographer and Date were not cited. |
On
this feast it is my tradition to offer you the reflections of others within the
universal Church. Today’s reading commentary comes from Brendan Byrne SJ. The
Homily is by Rev. Austin Fleming who is pastor of Holy Family Parish in
Concord Massachusetts, USA.
Reading 1: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
The angel brought me
back to the entrance of the
temple,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of
the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple
was toward the east;
the water flowed down from
the southern side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the
north gate,
and around to the outer gate
facing the east,
where I saw water trickling
from the southern side.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the
eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the
salt waters, which it makes fresh.
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.
Along both banks of the river,
fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade,
nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear
fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by
the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for
food, and their leaves for medicine.”
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Commentary on Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
The scriptural offerings
begin with a first reading taken from a (somewhat truncated) excerpt from
Ezekiel’s vision of the renewed Temple in Jerusalem Temple
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R. (5) The waters of the river gladden the city of
God
God is our refuge and our
strength,
an ever-present help in
distress.
Therefore, we fear not,
though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the
depths of the sea.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High!
There is a stream whose
runlets gladden the city of God
the holy dwelling of the Most
High.
God is in its midst; it shall
not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break
of dawn.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High!
The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of
Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the
LORD,
the astounding things he has
wrought on earth.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High!
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Psalm 46 is a hymn of praise. In this passage we see the analogy
presented in the reading from Ezekiel referenced (Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12) as the Lord
is praised for supporting the people with his strength and creation.
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Reading II: 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
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
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Commentary on 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17
In the second
reading, 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17, St Paul moves from speaking of the
Christian community at Corinth in terms of a ‘plantation’ to that of a
‘building’, and finally a ‘holy building’ or temple, in which God’s Spirit
dwells. Christian ministers, such as himself and his co-workers, are the
builders who are bringing this holy building to completion. The essential foundation
that Paul has laid is Christ. As is necessary for the success of any building
operation, all subsequent builders must ensure that their work is rightly
aligned upon the foundation. The image of the community as a holy building or
temple was something early Christianity derived from Judaism. It communicates
the sense that even when absent from a physical place of worship the gathered
community is already itself a holy building (temple) in which the Lord is
present. The physical building is the outward, local, visible expression of the
Christian conviction that it is God’s delight to dwell among human beings – a
presence made vastly more accessible through the Incarnation of the Son,
extended to all times and places through the sacramental life of the Church.
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Gospel: John 2:13-22
Since the Passover of the
Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem
He found in the temple area
those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers
seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the
temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the
money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves
he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s
house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the
words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will
consume me.
At this the Jews answered and
said to him,
“What sign can you show us
for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to
them,
“Destroy this temple and in
three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under
construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in
three days?”
But he was speaking about the
temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised
from the dead,
his disciples remembered that
he had said this,
and they came to believe the
Scripture
and the word Jesus had
spoken.
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Commentary on Jn 2:13-22
The Gospel, John
2:13-22, adds a christological crown to this rich scriptural offering. In
John’s account, Jesus’ ‘cleansing’ of the Temple
in Jerusalem Temple Temple Temple in Jerusalem Temple
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Homily[4]
By - Rev. Austin Fleming
When you hear the word
“church” -- what comes to your mind?
Perhaps you think of:
- a building, like this one,
where people gather to worship…
- or the word church might
lead you to think of worship itself,
as when “I’m going to
church,” means “I’m going to Mass…”
- or “church” might call to
mind the institution, the Roman Catholic Church, with its structure, teachings
and authority…
- or perhaps “church” brings
to mind a gathering of believers, the church as its people, a community of
faith…
Of course, what we have right
here, right now is all of the above:
we are God’s people, a faith
community,
we are the church gathered
for “church,” for worship,
gathered to offer the prayer
of the Roman Catholic Church,
and we’re doing all this in -
a church!
Church is a multi-faceted
word and it can elicit all kinds of responses:
- Some see the church as a haven, a refuge, a place of peace…
- For others it’s a chore, a burden, an obligation…
- For some church means little more than “things I’m not supposed to do” while others understand it as the truth by which they live their lives.
- Some see the institutional church as a sprawling bureaucracy and for some the formal church is kingdom of God on earth.
- For some, church is a problem, a quandary, and an embarrassment - while for others it’s the answer, the solution and a source of hope.
- For some, church is but a vague and distant memory and for others it’s among the heart’s deepest treasures.
- Some see the church as a worn out cliché with no meaning for today while others see it as an ancient compass still guiding us through stormy seas.
- Some hang on the church’s every word while others long ago tuned it out completely.
- Some think of the church as one big guilt machine and for others it’s a gas pump of grace.
- For some, coming to church a couple of times a year is just enough, thank you, and for others every day is not enough.
And in between all these
polarities are a thousand shades of gray. But whatever the word church brings
to mind, I hope it is still, in every mind and heart, a place to meet Christ
Jesus. Today's scriptures give their own take on what church means. Jesus
predicts the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and speaks of his own body
as the true holy of holies.
St. Paul also personalizes
the temple and writes,
“YOU are God’s building! YOU are the temple of God.”
And Ezekiel describes the
temple as a great well-spring from which flows a river of living water filling
the oceans, nurturing all life and providing healing. Whatever the word church
brings to mind, these scriptures have something to say to all of us.
WE are God’s building; WE are
the temple of God. Each of us is one of the living stones in the temple of God.
None of us is the whole temple: I am not. You are not. The pope is not. But
each of us and all of us together build up that temple that is Christ’s body.
Together, we are the living,
pulsing, moving, breathing Body of Christ in this parish we call Holy Family.
More than any church building
in Concord or in Rome, the church is the Body of Christ as it lives in us.
From this body, this living
temple, should flow forth healing waters providing life and sustenance, especially
for the poor, the hungry, the homeless. Because the church, the Body of Christ,
never exists for itself but always for others.
The author James Joyce is
said to have said,
“Catholic means: here comes
everybody!”
And there is a universal
diversity, true to the root meaning of Catholic, that marks who we are as a
church.
I pray that the doors of our
church remain always open to any and all who desire to seek the truth with us
and who look for communion
with us and our Lord. At the same time, I pray that all who come to the church will
keep minds and hearts open to the depths of truth the church offers and to the
responsibilities our communion places on our shoulders.
Here, in the middle of our
church, is the altar of the Body of Christ, the One whose truth we celebrate,
communion with whom is our joy. May this table, around which we, the church,
gather, provide the nourishment we need to be the church the Lord has made of
us the church the Lord calls us to be.
In Other Years: Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
[1]
The photograph is of
St. John Lateran Basilica, Photographer and Date were not cited.
[2]
ALTRE
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
* Brendan Byrne SJ did
not write a commentary on the Psalm, this commentary is my own.
[4]
Rev. Austin Fleming is pastor of Holy Family Parish in Concord
Massachusetts
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