Just weeks before his death, Jesus has finally made his way to Jerusalem and is in the Temple preaching. Along the journey we have seen him teach the meaning of discipleship. We have witnessed the faith of a blind beggar and the lack of faith of a "rich" young man. We have heard the Lord say that loving God is inseparable from loving our neighbor. And we have watched as he explained that mere ritual and just “following the rules” is not enough.
It is important for us to understand the context of today’s readings. Jesus continually challenged his disciples to go and reach out to those who needed to experience his presence of in their lives. The universal call to holiness was one of the central themes of the Second Vatican Council and today Jesus is reminds us that we will be judged according to our response to this universal call to holiness. But what exactly does this mean?
It might seem odd that today we celebrate the dedication of a church building in Rome. But the Church of St. John Lateran is no ordinary church. It was first built and dedicated in the 4th century and has since served as the cathedral church for the Pope - and, thus, has been called the "mother of all the world's churches." In commemoration of the dedication of this church, we read today about the Jerusalem Temple, which foreshadowed the establishment of the Church by Jesus. God ordained that a magnificent temple be erected as the central place of worship of Him by the Jews. For centuries, this temple in Jerusalem was the central location for worship of God, including sacrifices, prayers, offerings, etc. In the first reading, we hear of a vision of Ezekiel in which he sees water flowing from the temple. This symbolizes the life-giving nature of the temple. The temple was where God dwelt among His people. Thus, the temple was where the people could come to commune with God and find the true life that He offers.
At a time when this Temple was still standing in all its glory, Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, makes the extraordinary statement in today’s second reading, ‘Don’t you realize that you are God’s Temple and that the Spirit of God is living among you?’ Paul is declaring that the Most High now dwells in the community of believers who gather around the risen Lord.
The focal point of God’s presence is no longer a building, no matter how magnificent, but the community of those who have responded in faith to the preaching of the gospel of Christ crucified and risen. Paul declares that the foundation of this building is the one he has laid, namely, Jesus Christ.
In earlier days, a temple, church or shrine was revered so much as to suggest that God dwelt exclusively in such places. People went to church, participated in service, received communion and went home without knowing who was sitting beside them in church. Our prayer was very private and the man or woman sitting next to you was rather seen as a distraction in one’s intimate communion with God. Worshippers forgot that we are brothers and sisters, and that we come to church to worship God as family. If we want to be fully alive and healed of all of our brokenness, we must understand that we are not just individual believers.
We keep this feast not because of the physical building, but because that building is a symbol of our unity with the Bishop of Rome who is the Holy Father, the Pope, the head of our Church. We celebrate today because we recognize that we are not just individuals. No. We are a people. We are Catholics united with the Holy Father and unity in community with our brothers and sisters. The Church is always institution as well as mystical reality. This feast celebrates both our institutional identity as well as our mystical union to one another in Christ Jesus.
Celebrating the dedication of the Pope’s cathedral today shows our unity with the Pope and our love and respect for him. Not only that, but it shows that we are united with each other in the Church, which St. Paul described as "the Body of Christ." Today, as the Body of Christ, we are asked to realize more fully the beauty of who we are and our call to worship God together, as individuals and as families, in all that we say and do in our daily lives
