By Shanborlang Mawrie csc.
Readings: Ezek 47: 1-2, 8-9,12; 1 Cor 3: 9-11, 16-17; Jn 2: 13-22
Today we celebrate the feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, which reminds us of the need for spiritual purification and renewal. The Basilica of St. John Lateran is one of the four major basilicas in Rome and is the mother church of all churches in the world. The Basilica was consecrated by Pope Sylvester I on November 9, 324 AD 1. The feast commemorates this event and invites us to consecrate ourselves to God because we are his temple.
In today’s gospel we see that when Jesus found the Jerusalem temple had become a marketplace, he was upset and said, “Do not make my father’s house a house of trade.” We see here that Jesus had righteous anger toward those who disrespected the Temple through dishonest exchange of goods. This cleansing of the temple is a prophetic sign of Jesus in our lives because he seeks to cleanse us of sin and make us living temples of the Holy Spirit. In the first reading, Ezekiel had a vision of the water flowing from the temple. This symbolizes the life-giving nature of the temple. The temple is a place where God dwelt among his people.
St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians confirms that we are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in us. Seeing and recognizing ourselves as temples of God, we should live differently in this world by letting the goodness within us flow like a river so that many people may experience God through our lives.