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32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Yr. C
The True Temple of God!
The Lateran Basilica is the Cathedral of Rome and, indeed, the ecclesiastical seat of the pope. As we honor this church, we honor more than a building. The celebration of the dedication of the Lateran Church is an opportunity to reflect on the grace and blessings that accompany the presence of God in our midst. The water that Ezekiel saw from the temple flowing towards the east is a symbol of the grace of God that flows to the faithful from the house of God: the Church.
The Church is a place of grace and blessing from which God’s favor flows like living water to refresh humanity. Therefore, the Church should be pure and holy as a place of prayer. Little wonder that Jesus in the Gospel cleanses the temple of all impurities. When we hear Jesus declare: “Destroy this temple and in three days, I will rebuild it,” Jesus here ushers in a new temple, not made by human hand, but one established through His suffering and death. He, Himself, has become the new temple and locus of worship of the Father.
The people of God who are the Church are the living temple where God chooses to dwell. “All who believe in Christ are truly built into the house of the Lord when they are fitted together through love,” says St. Augustine. The new temple is the whole of Christ [Christus Totus]. True worship can only be made in and through Jesus Christ to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot give true worship to God unless united in the Body of Christ: the Church. Today’s feast reminds us of this unity which is one of the “Four Characters” of a true Church which stands at the heart of the priestly prayer of Christ: “So that they may all be one,” [John.17:21].
The stern manner with which Jesus chased the vendors from the temple came totally unexpected. It was a surprise that no one opposed Him. No one tried to stop Him from His authoritative action. The inaction of the authorities and the temple guards was a tacit concession that Jesus had the power to do what He did, that the temple was His Father’s property. We are reminded of the zeal that our Lord has for the cleansing of His Church.
St. Paul exhorts in today’s epistle: “You are God’s building… Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” In the same way that we must keep the structural temple clean and undefiled, our bodies as God’s temple ought to be holy. We pray that Jesus come into our hearts as well and take possession of it and establish His authority and drive out every sin. May we respond to His purifying action in our lives, Amen.