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Commentary on the Gospel for Saturday, November 9, 2024
Today we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, called «mother and head of all the churches of the city and of the world». The tradition goes back to the 12th century. The original building is much older. It was built and given to the Pope by the Emperor Constantine in gratitude for his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, thus showing his adherence to the primacy of Peter.
Today’s readings speak of the Temple. In Ezekiel’s vision, it is an enclosure from which streams of living water flow, a prefiguration of the Church. In 1 Corinthians, the temple is made of living stones: the risen body of Christ united to the Church, his Mystical Body. And the text of John’s Gospel presents Jesus’ indignation at the degradation of a space that he had learned to venerate as sacred from childhood.
Called to become spiritual temples, we are the living stones with which the Lord wants to build his house. But we are also material beings, and it seems that God does not disdain to build temples, much less to remain hidden and visible at the same time, in the tabernacle. They are places where «living stones» gather to worship, to praise, to know God better and to ask for forgiveness and mercy. The preface to this celebration says it beautifully: «You generously deign to dwell in every house consecrated to prayer […] to make of us […] a temple of the Holy Spirit».
We certainly do not gather for a «social event» and often show an astonishing lack of education. When outsiders see how we behave in our churches, it is difficult for them to take us seriously. Would we behave in the same way at a Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim holy site as we do at our baptisms, weddings and funerals? Common sense says no.
Today’s gospel story tells us of another temple, which is the very body of Christ. When the Jews, the religious authorities of Jerusalem, ask for explanations, Jesus announces his death and resurrection. Neither those who ask for explanations nor the disciples themselves know what he is talking about. They will understand at the resurrection only if they believe the Scriptures and what the Master said. Our faith in the Risen One makes us living stones of his Church.