The different feast days
& celebrations in our Church calendar tell us so much about our Church
& about our history. Today, we celebrate the feast of the Dedication of the
Lateran Basilica in Rome. The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of
Rome, the Pope's cathedral & the baptism church of ancient Rome. It is also
called the Church of Holy Savior & the Church of St. John Baptist and St.
John the Evangelist. It was built as a
palace by the Laterani family, passed into the hands of the Emperor Constantine
through his wife, & was consecrated a cathedral by Pope Sylvester in 324.
This feast became a universal celebration in honor of the basilica called
"the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world" as a
sign of love for and union with the Holy seat of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
In each of today’s
readings, some aspect of our place of worship is mentioned. And I wonder how often do we take our places
of worship for granted.
In the first reading from
the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet describes his vision of a new temple; with the
symbol of life-giving water flowing from the temple. Israel had been through
much strife, having chosen to leave God's path many times. While he is in
exile, Ezekiel responds to the call of the Lord to become His holy
prophet. Ezekiel relays his visions to
his people as he becomes the Lord’s instrument to call the people back again.
Ezekiel makes many sacrifices to follow this calling: At one point, the Lord asks him to lie on his
side one day for every year that the Israelites were disobedient to God. But, in today’s reading, Ezekiel talks about
the glory of the rebuilt temple when the Jews will be back in Jerusalem as they
return from exile.
Our buildings of worship
are important places in our lives of faith, holy places that speak to us &
our society as symbols of our faith. Yet, we must always remember that we are holy
temples ourselves, temples where the Holy Spirit lives, temples that bring us
to life in Christ. We are the living
stones that form the body of Christ, just as stones from the earth form
together to create our houses of worship.
Let us go forth from our
Eucharistic celebration today remembering our call to be temples of the Holy
Spirit whenever we see our houses of worship.
As both Ezekiel and Jesus suffered for God's holy people, as they
suffered to build up the Church & to bring us back to God, may we look at
our own sufferings as being united with the sufferings of Jesus. May the Lord help us to see his will for us
today, to help us to be living stones of the body of Christ.
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