I’ve noticed something… We’re all very busy doing a lot of things, and going to a lot of places. Whether its the store, or a soccer practice, or a school play, or a vacation, or here at Church, I’ve noticed that wherever you go, I see you sharing goodness. I see God at work in your everyday life… YOUR everyday life! As we listen to the Word today, Ezekiel’s vision the angel brought him to the back door, where he saw water flowing out. In our Psalm we hear that this water gladdens the city of God, and that He, the Lord of hosts is with us. St. Paul tells us that you are God’s building, a Temple in your own right. Finally, our Gospel is truly memorable not just because of what was said, but how Jesus acted prompting the disciples to remember the psalmist who said that “Zeal for your house will consume me!"! (John 2:17, Psalm 69:10) Today we are asked to connect with some very familiar elements of our human and spiritual existence: Life, Water, Baptism, and the attention getting emotion of Zeal, all wrapped up in this house we call the Church.
Just like last week’s Commemoration of All Souls, it’s unusual that the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome would fall on a Sunday. Just for fun, I looked at previous yearly calendars and found that this has occurred only five times in the last 30 years. This means that many don’t even know what this day is all about. Not to worry, Deacon Greg has done the Googling for you! The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, or The Lateran Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. It is the oldest and ranks first among the four Papal Basilicas or major basilicas of Rome, and is the oldest church in the West. The large inscription on the façade reads, "THE MOTHER AND HEAD OF ALL THE CHURCHES OF THE CITY AND THE WORLD”. Why so special? This Archbasilica stands on the original site of the Lateran Palace, which was given to the Pope St. Sylvester I and Church on November 9, 324 by Constantine I who received it as a gift from the Laterani Family (as Deacon Dan said in his homily, “I guess the Emperor was not above regifting.) This all happened during the time when the faith became an accepted part of life in the Roman Empire, spreading from there to all points east, west, north and south.
That gives perspective to why we hear from Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple today. Remember your Hebrew roots, and the fact that the Temple was the place where one could find God. Ezekiel’s vision show us that life and refreshment was flourished wherever the Temple stream flowed, evoking the order and abundance of paradise, representing the coming transformation for the exiles and their land. This water signifies great blessings and evidence of the Lord's presence, especially evident as the stream approached the Dead Sea, where nothing could live, transforming a place of death into a garden of life. Just like at creation when the RUAH or the breath of God, that mighty wind over the abyss brought light from the darkness, and life to this earth, the Temple streams allowed fruit to grow abundantly along the desert river banks. We are truly something from nothing, and God is the source!
So it is fitting that as we approach the end of this Liturgical Year, where in two weeks we will once lift up Christ as our King, that the darkness of Halloween gives way to the light of Christ with All the Saints and All the Souls revealing his Father’s house which has many, many rooms, and has a place for us all. Today is not about the physical building of that great Cathedral in Rome, rather it is about the promise of heaven, and the goodness of the universal Church, and the structure of our lives, built with living stones upon the strong foundation of Christ and His Church. It is at this table that we come to the one Body in Christ, in the Eucharist, which is the promised Temple rebuilt in those three days when Jesus was crucified, died and resurrected, and which we are forever united in the waters of our Baptism giving us life. You see? It’s just like Ezekiel’s vision… Water from the Temple, in this case flowing from the side of our Lord, washing us clean and giving us life along this river bank in the desert of Alabama. The closer we stay to that living water, the more fruit we’ll produce. The more we participate in the Church and its mission, the better off we’ll be.
Now if that isn’t enough, St. Paul reminds us that we too are Temples of God, meaning that great things can also flow out of us. When we lead our Baptism Class, we like to introduce the Sacrament with this phrase: Christ lives within the baptized, for a life IN Christ is a life WITH Christ living through us. Jesus is the foundation of God’s building, both yours and the Church’s, and the Spirit of God dwells in our hearts and in the heart of the Church. Jesus is God’s Temple, but by baptism into Him, so are we, both as individual believers and as members of His Mystical Body the Church. And so it is through the living waters of baptism, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit flowing out of us in our actions that make our lives a place where God dwells on earth. Today's Feast of the St. John Lateran in Rome is also a celebration of our own St. John’s, and the hearts of all gathered here, connected with all the baptized across the world, and the millenniums in this rich history of our journey with Christ.
Finally, let's look at our Lord's zeal in today's Gospel. Zeal? Like you, I'm thinking he was a tad angry. But look at the Gospel from the perspective of the disciples who observed Jesus as living out the Psalms when it was written, “zeal for your house will consumed me." Zeal is defined as a strong passion for someone or something, and it's a charism that we all should allow to consume us and our faith now and then. It is Jesus’ most aggressive act recorded in Scripture, as Jesus “drove them all out of the Temple area” with the admonition, “Stop making My Father’s house a market place.” Now there are certainly many challenges in today’s Gospel pertaining to the Church straying away from its intended purposes, or its membership grappling with the many temptations that get in the way of expressing our faith or performing our mission. But its Lord’s zeal that jumps from the Gospel. He doesn't have it in for businesses, or flea market sales clerks… No, he is defending his Father's House, the Temple.
While I know that this homily could focus on the frustrations of our Lord, I want us to embracing this zeal of Christ, and the reassurance from St. Paul that we are Temples, and that vision from Ezekiel that from the Temple flows life-giving water, producing abundant fruit. We are called to have that same zeal in sharing our faith, and we are called to be that Temple, celebrating Christ’s life-giving Good News! But let today’s Gospel offer you this guarantee: Our Lord’s presence in our Church, and in our lives means that He is here to love us and defend us, protect us and drive out those things that try destroy us. We are a strong Church and a strong people because we have a God who loves us, and protects us with much zeal…
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| The Lateran Basilica in Rome |
"The Cleansing of the Temple" from Jesus of Nazareth
"I Will Raise This Temple in Three Days" from Jesus of Nazareth
"The Temple" from Jesus Christ Superstar
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