Monday, 09 November 2009

The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome – Feast

Today the Church celebrates : Dedication of St. John Lateran (Feast)

See commentary below or click here
Saint Augustine : The holy Temple, the Body of Christ

Book of Ezekiel 47:1-2.8-9.12.

Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the facade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple, south of the altar. He led me outside by the north gate, and around to the outer gate facing the east, where I saw water trickling from the southern side. He said to me, “This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

Psalms 46(45):2-3.5-6.8-9.

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.
Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken and mountains quake to the depths of the sea,
Streams of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be shaken; God will help it at break of day.
The LORD of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. Selah
Come and see the works of the LORD, who has done fearsome deeds on earth;

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 2:13-22.

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.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day :

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon on Psalm 130, § 1-2

The holy Temple, the Body of Christ

The apostle Paul says: «The Temple of God, which you are, is holy» (1Cor 3,17), that is to say: all you who believe in Christ, believing even to loving… All who thus believe are the living stones of which God’s temple is built (1Pt 2,5); they are like the imperishable wood of which the ark was built that the flood could not overwhelm (Gn 6,14). This temple – the people of God, human persons themselves – is the place where God answers those who pray. People who pray to God outside this temple cannot have their prayers for the peace of the Jerusalem above answered even though they are answered regarding particular material things that God grants even to pagans… But it is an altogether different thing to have one’s prayers answered in the matter of eternal life. This is only granted to those who pray inside God’s temple.

For someone who prays within God’s temple prays within the peace of the Church, in the unity of Christ’s body, since the Body of Christ is built up of the multitude of believers spread over all the world… And someone who prays in the peace of the Church prays «in spirit and in truth» (Jn 4,23) of which the former Temple was only a symbol. In fact it was for our instruction that our Lord cast out of the Temple those men who were only seeking their own interest and who only went there to buy and sell. If that first Temple had to undergo this purification then it is clear that the Body of Christ too, the true temple, also contains buyers and sellers among those who pray there, that is to say, people only seeking «their own interests and not those of Jesus Christ» (Phil 2,21)… But the time will come when the Lord will cast out all those sins.