 |
St. John Lateran Basilica
by Deacon Robert Lackney, artist and architect |
Readings for the Feast
of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
[1]
Readings from the
Jerusalem Bible [2]
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 reflection is the
Angelus address given by Pope Francis in 2014.
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
The angel brought meback to the entrance of the
temple,and I saw water flowing outfrom 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.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 (47:1-2, 8-9, 12). Because
the presence of the Lord has returned to the Temple (following the return of
Israel itself from exile), the waters flowing from the Temple have become
life-giving in the spectacular way described – even the Dead Sea is seen as
being made to teem with fish when the waters enter it. The vision has entered
Christian imagination as a powerful symbol of the life (grace) that flows to
human beings through God’s presence in the Temple of the Church.” [sic]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R. (5) The waters of the river gladden the city of
God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
God is our refuge and our
strength,an ever-present help in
distress.Therefore, we fear not,
though the earth be shakenand 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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Commentary on Ps 46:2-3, 5-6,
8-9*
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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, which
you are, is holy.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 he 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.”
CCC: 1
Cor 3:9 307, 755, 756; 1 Cor 3:11 756; 1 Cor 3:16-17 797
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 cordsand drove them all out of the
temple area, with the sheep and oxen,and spilled the coins of the
money-changersand 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
Scriptureand the word Jesus had
spoken. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 is very radical.
By driving out the animals and money changers he is really overthrowing the
whole system of Temple worship based upon animal sacrifices that had existed
hitherto. ‘Zeal for (his) Father’s house consumes’ him in that his whole life
and teaching is one great campaign to disclose and make effective the presence
of God on a vastly wider scale than in the confines of the material Temple. His
‘zeal’ or passion for this mission will ‘consume’ him in the sense of bringing
him to his death. However, as his disciples subsequently realize, his own body
will become the new place of God’s presence, the ‘Temple’ which, through rising
from the dead, he will build ‘in three days’. Believers need not mourn the loss
of the Temple in Jerusalem (destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE). They live within
the new ‘Temple’ constituted by the body of their risen Lord.”
CCC: Jn
2:13-14 583; Jn 2:16-17 584; Jn 2:18-22 586; Jn 2:18 575; Jn 2:19-22 994; Jn 2:21 586
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reflection
Today the
liturgy commemorates the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which is the
Cathedral of Rome and which tradition defines as “mother of all Churches of the
city and of the world”. The term “mother”, refers not as much to the sacred
building of the Basilica, as to the work of the Holy Spirit who is made
manifest in this building, bearing fruit through the ministry of the Bishop of
Rome, and in all communities which abide in unity with the Church over which he
presides.
Each time we
celebrate the dedication of a church, an essential truth is recalled: the
physical temple made of brick and mortar is a sign of the living Church serving
in history, that is to say, of that “spiritual temple”, as the Apostle Peter
says, in which Christ himself is the “living stone, rejected by men but in
God’s sight chosen and precious” (1 Pt 2:4). In the Gospel from today’s
liturgy, Jesus, speaking about the temple, reveals a shocking truth: that the
Temple of God is not only a building made of brick and mortar, but is his Body,
made of living stone. Through the power of Baptism, every Christian takes part
in “God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9), indeed they become the Church of God. The
spiritual structure, the Church community of mankind sanctified by the Blood of
Christ and by Spirit of the Risen Lord, asks each one of us to be consistent with
the gift of the faith and to undertake a journey of Christian witness. And we
all know that in life it is not easy to maintain consistency between faith and
testimony; but we must carry on and be coherent in our daily life. “This is a
Christian!”, not so much in what he says, but in what he does, and the way in
which he behaves. This coherence, which gives us life, is a grace of the Holy
Spirit which we must ask for. The Church, at the beginning of her life and of
her mission in the world, was but a community constituted to confess faith in
Jesus Christ the Son of God and Redeemer of Man, a faith which operates through
love. They go together! In today’s world too, the Church is called to be the
community in the world which, rooted in Christ through Baptism, humbly and
courageously professes faith in Him, witnessing to it in love.
The
institutional elements, the structures and the pastoral entities must also be
directed toward this goal, this essential goal of bearing witness to the faith
in love. Love is the very expression of faith and also, faith is the
explanation and the foundation of love. Today’s celebration invites us to
meditate on the communion of all Churches, that is, of this Christian
community. By analogy she spurs us to commit ourselves in order that humanity
may overcome the confines of enmity and indifference, to build bridges of
understanding and dialogue, to make of the entire world one family of people
reconciled among themselves, in fraternal solidarity. The Church herself is a
sign and preview of this new humanity, as she lives and, through her witness,
spreads the Gospel, the message of hope and reconciliation for all mankind.
Let us invoke
the intercession of the Most Holy Mary, that she may help us to become like
her, the “House of God”, the living temple of his love. (Pope Francis, November
9, 2014)
In other years: Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in
Ordinary Time
[1] The drawing is of St. John Lateran Basilica by Deacon Robert Lackney, artist and architect.[2]
S.S. Commemoratio[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 republication 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.
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