Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Remembrance Sunday) (09.11.14)
We might wonder why, throughout history, the Temple of God – the “Holy of Holies” and churches of worship down through the ages have always been held in such high regard by Christians.Today’s Gospel recounts how Jesus reacted so strongly when He witnessed how “His Father’s House” was being violated and abused. St. John deemed the incident worth recording to emphasise the lesson we need to learn from it.
We might think that it is a bit “over the top” because they are only buildings after all.
If so, we are missing the point.
Churches are places set apart for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament reserved there in the tabernacle – havens of peaceful silence for those who wish to come in and stay a while in the presence of the Lord, whether to offer prayers of petition or thanksgiving or perhaps to just be quiet and open to what God might want to speak to us through the inspiration the Holy Spirit.
Even if we are too busy about many things to make a visit as we hurriedly pass by, these holy Temples in themselves are a constant reminder of their purpose, and all that goes on in them – where we believers are firstly baptised into the fold, and from thence nourished by word and sacrament for the rest of our lives, thus making us God’s temples – as we hear in the second reading (Cor. 3: 9-11,16-17) – a sobering thought indeed!
Yes, we belong to the same Church as the community of believers at Corinth.
Like them, we are invited to see ourselves as God’s building – not a building of bricks and mortar, but one of flesh and blood , a community of faith and charity. This is the challenge.
We do not remain dedicated just by existing.
Our dedication can become disenchanted with the Church. We could then feel we no longer want to belong.
We could then stop taking responsibility for seeing ourselves as the Church, as God’s building, and walk away.
This temptation can come to us all at various times on our uphill climb to our heavenly home. Therefore, it is important to renew our dedication. There are times when we need the faith and love of the community to support us in our weakness and failure. There are also times when we ourselves can help others grow because something of the divine shows through in us. I find Cardinal Newman’s prayer inspiring and worth pondering at this juncture:-
“Dear God,
Help me to spread your beauty everywhere I go today.
Flood my soul with your Spirit and Light.
Fill my whole being so utterly, that all my life may only be a radiance of You.
Shine through me and be so much a part of me, that every soul I meet today may see Your Presence in me.
Let them look at me and find no longer me but You.
Stay with me, and then I will begin to shine as You shine, so as to be a light for others.
Let me preach You without preaching –
teach You without teaching –
not by words but by example –
by the catching influence of who I am and what I do
and by the obvious fullness of the love my heart holds for You.”
Our ambition must be to defend and live by the precepts and principles of the Church’s teaching, whether it get a bad or a good press – none of us is perfect – remembering it is made up of sinners who keep trying to be good, and we are part of that community of believers!