Homily For Thursday Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time Year, 9th November, 2023. The Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Readings: Ez.47:1-2.8-9.12, Ps.46, 1Cor3:9-11.16-17, John 2:13-22

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

YOU ARE  A SACRED REALITY WHERE GOD DWELLS

 

Today in a special way the Church celebrate the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica Rome. It is the Mother and head of all the Churches and a symbol of unity for all the Churches in the world with the Roman Church. This feast reminds us of our need to live in deep communion with the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, the rock on which Jesus built his Church on which our faith as Christians depends  However, we should never lose sight of the fact that it is the symbol of the true meeting point between man and God, and Jesus Christ who is the actual temple.

 

Little wonder Jesus in the Gospel passage today points to himself as the temple of God in the world, the one through whom God is present in the world.  Here, he is speaking of the Temple that was his body when he said to the Jews: destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Thus, prophet Ezekiel in our first reading today prophesying about this Temple said: ‘Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.’

 

While St. Paul in our second reading, emphasises that the Christian community, the body of Christ, is the place where God is to be truly present in the world. That the Church is a spiritual temple and each member of the Church is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a living expression of God’s loving presence in our world today. He said: ‘Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple'.

 

So today’s feast of dedication reminds us about our dedication to God by showing us the theological understanding of what Church dedication represents. It reminds us that the Church building is a sign of God’s worshipping community, pointing out that the people should be aware that the holiness of the building depends not on the “blessed stones”, but on the saving words proclaimed in it, the holy sacrifice offered there, the sacraments of salvation celebrate there and the presence of the Holy Spirit who dwells in the hearts of the faithful gathered in the Holy Assembly for worship. 

 

As temple of God, we are nourished in the Church with the Word of God, calling us to repentance and encouraging us in our daily struggles in life. In the Church, we receive the sacraments of initiation: baptism, and confirmation and are nourished by the Holy Eucharist. In the Church, we come to God with our burden of sin and sickness, and he heals us through the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick.

 

Also, in the Church, we receive God’s grace and blessings to serve him in different vocations and ministries through the sacraments of matrimony and Holy Orders. In the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ remains present with us in the Holy Eucharist present in the Tabernacle in the company of Our Blessed Mother Mary and All the Saints. And when we passed away from this world especially as temple of God, the Church accompany us through prayers to our heavenly temple where we will be united with the triumphant Church in the presence of God our Loving Father. 

 

Dear friends, now we can understand why St Paul says that our bodies are sacred temples of the Lord, this in fact is the heart of our own baptismal character, to become temples of God through whom God’s loving presence touches the lives of others. So, today we are reminded that we are sacred reality, where God dwells, which should not be profaned or used as may material object. Therefore, we must preserve our bodies from stains of sin and corruption. We must not let the pleasurable things of this passing world defile our bodies which by the virtue of our baptism have become a scared dwelling of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, we must unite together to build up the body of Christ which is his Church.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we celebrate the feast of the dedication of your Church, help us to realize that our bodies are the sacred temple of your dwelling presence and so preserve it always from the stains of sin and corruption. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Do have a fruitful day.