Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 9, 2022
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 cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and 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 Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
This Scripture passage from the evangelist St. John is as tricky for me to take in today as I imagine it would have been for the apostles watching this scene in real life. Christ’s actions have the fiery flavor of St. John the Baptist, who dramatically cleared the way for the Messiah’s message to be heard.
Today is the feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the cathedral church for the bishop of Rome dedicated under the patronage of St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist. Each high-powered saint spoke in his unique and eloquent way to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Savior.
This past summer, my husband and I were blessed to take our children to Rome, and we visited St. Peter’s and St. John Lateran. Outside several Roman churches, attendants passed out blue cloth, so people could cover up while walking through the churches. Some people genuflected when they entered, but most hurried through the door and started snapping pictures.
These churches are exquisite masterpieces of art from the past on full display, but our attitude as we walk through the church determines if we approach each holy space as a tourist or pilgrim.
As pilgrims on the journey, do we see past the impressive history and architecture and notice the small red candle flickering in the corner of the church? Do we feel the pull to the King of the universe who humbles himself to reside in the tabernacle? Do we realize we don’t have to travel to Rome to receive God’s most entire gift in the Eucharist? Do we ask Jesus for help to enter the right relationship with the Father?
Jesus is calling us to something so intimate! May our hearts be cleansed as Jesus cleansed the temple, so that we can be Christ’s receivers and bearers—bringing the good news of God’s love and grace to those we encounter each day.
Prayer
Good and loving God, in a world full of office buildings, stores, businesses, and factories, you give us the gift of churches, sanctuaries where we can better learn to see your presence among us. Enkindle our hearts with zeal for your house! That all people may marvel at the God who chooses to have his house among us. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Saint of the Day
When we think of the seat of Catholicism, images of St. Peter’s in Rome come to mind. In reality, the seat of Catholicism is actually the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome because this is the official church that the pope presides in as bishop of Rome. It is this capacity—the bishop of Rome—that makes the pope head of all bishops. Thus it is this church, where the pope presides, that stands as the mother of all churches around the world.
This church was the first one built after Constantine ceased the persecution of Christians in 313. For years, the Laterni family held the land where the church now stands, which gives the basilica its name. The basilica was dedicated in 324 and that is where popes lived and presided until the 1300s. Four ecumenical councils of the magnitude of Vatican II were held there.
The basilica was originally dedicated under the name of Most Holy Savior, but in the sixth century took on the names of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. Now it is known as the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which rolls all of this history together.
Beneath the altar of the Lateran basilica stands a small wooden altar upon which, according to tradition, St. Peter celebrated Mass. The Lady Chapel of Notre Dame’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart contains something similar: the ornate altar in that chapel holds a piece of wood that comes from a portable altar used by St. Peter.
The term, "basilica," was first applied to buildings in ancient Rome that served as an public court for hearings. Early Christians had to gather in secret in caves and private homes for worship, but when the faith expanded into the empire, the faithful were allowed to build larger assembly spaces. They did not want to associate their faith with pagan temples of the time, so they turned to the basilica as an architectural model for a public gathering space. The traditional basilica has a long nave and a central, raised area that stands at the head of the space. Christian churches often add a transept to make the space in the shape of the cross, such as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus.
Today, the term "basilica" is applied to a Catholic church of distinction, or one that is a place of pilgrimage. A basilica is not synonymous with the term "cathedral," which is the church where the diocesan bishop presides in each diocese. There are more than 1,500 basilicas around the world.
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus was dedicated in 1888 as the Church of the Sacred Heart—Pope John Paul II raised the church to the status of basilica in 1992. It is the mother church for the priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States—it is where these men make their final vows and are ordained priests.
Celebrating the feast of this sacred church is a way to honor the communion experienced by the whole Roman Catholic Church. It also reminds us of an essential truth: our temples of stone stand as symbols for the Christian community. A church is a place where God lives, and God also dwells in the community that assembles there. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians (chapter 3) that each of us is a living stone in the temple of God.
Lord Jesus, cornerstone of the Church, bless us on this feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica!
Image Credit: The featured image of the Lateran Basilica is in use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed October 10, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
