Every parish celebrates the anniversary of the ceremony in which its parish church was consecrated to God and dedicated to the worship of God. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. Even though people around the globe associate the pope with the more famous Basilica of St. Peter, his cathedral church as Bishop of Rome is the Basilica of St. John. This celebration started out as a purely local event but eventually November 9th came to be a celebration of the unity of the church expressed in the pope’s ministry. The church is not buildings; it is people united by the Spirit of God. Paul tells us this in the second reading. Both the Gospel and the first reading attempt to enlarge our vision of the church. Today it is appropriate to reconsider what the church really is and where God is calling each of us to fit into it. Am I listening to this call? Am I striving to avoid hearing it?
First Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-2; 8-9; 12
1 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. 2 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. [3 Then when he had walked off to the east with a measuring cord in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and had me wade through the water, which was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand and once more had me wade through the water, which was now knee-deep. Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade; the water was up to my waist. 5 Once more he measured off a thousand, but there was now a river through which I could not wade; for the water had risen so high it had become a river that could not be crossed except by swimming. 6 He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?” Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit. 7 Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.] 8 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. 9 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. [10 Fishermen shall be standing along it from En-gedi to En-eglaim, spreading their nets there. Its kinds of fish shall be like those of the Great Sea, very numerous. 11 Only its marshes and swamps shall not be made fresh; they shall be left for salt.] 12 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.”
NOTES on First Reading:
* Square brackets indicate verses left out of the reading. I include them only for completeness of the text.
* 47:1-12 The marvelous stream of life giving water that transforms the previously arid and dead land is symbolic of the return of the ideal conditions of the paradise of Eden; Gen 2:10-14. Water is symbolic of great blessing as dryness signifies a curse; see 26:5-14. See Joel 3:18; Zec 13:1; Rev 22:1-5; Sir 24:28-31; Note Joel 3:18 is 4:18 in NAB and Jerusalem Bibles.
* 47:2 The east gate was closed; see Ezek 44:2,4
* 47:3-6 Chapter 47 parallels chapter 37 in expressing the renewed life that God promises to the exiles. The continually deepening river water recalls the power of the vision of dry bones in Chapter 37. The geography is realistic enough but this image is not intended as a description of physical events but rather it is symbolic of fertility and life giving power flowing from the presence of God in the Temple.
* 47:7 Trees are reminiscent of Eden (Gen 2:9).
* 47:8 The “Sea” usually means the Mediterranean Sea but in this case the Dead Sea is obviously meant.
* 47:9 Again the language echoes that of Genesis 1:20-21 pointing to a new creation. The Hebrew word translated as “shall be made fresh” actually mean “will be healed.”
* 47:11 Perhaps they will be needed to provide the salt used in the sacrifices.
* 47:12 This verse contains an expansion of the promises of Ezek 34:27; 36:30. See also Amos 9:13.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
9 [For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field,] God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, 11 for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. [12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15 But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.] 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
NOTES on Second Reading:
* Square brackets indicate verses left out of the reading. I include them only for completeness of the text.
* 3:10 There are many different functions in the building up of the Kingdom. Each of those jobs is important in God�s blueprint of what the church is to look like. We are each accountable to God for how well we did our job.
* 3:13 The Day is Judgment Day when all will be evaluated and its worth made manifest. Using an analogy with refining precious metals, Paul speaks of fire which both destroys the base and purifies the valuable.
* 3:15 The Lord will find a way to save the builder even though he will suffer loss as a result of poor workmanship. Here Paul is speaking of those who do their work for the community in a poor or slovenly manner. Perhaps their motives are not totally pure or their love is not perfect but yet God will not abandon them completely.
* 3:17 Paul alludes to the sanctity of the Church as a basic reality founded not in who we are but in Whose Church it is. See 1:2,30; 6:11;7:14
Gospel Reading: John 2: 13-22
13 Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. 15 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, 16 and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” 17 His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 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.
NOTES on Gospel Reading:
* 2:13 This is the first of three Passovers mentioned in John�s Gospel. The others are: 6:4; 13:1. Taken literally that makes the public ministry of Jesus at least two years long and possibly as tradition has always maintained, three.
* 2:14 These were the animals that were to be offered in sacrifice in the temple worship.
* 2:15 The language used by John indicates that this version of the incident was developed as a separate tradition from the ones given in the other gospels. See Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48. The other gospels place this incident at the end of Jesus career while John places it at the beginning. The reason for the move is that John uses the raising of Lazarus as the immediate cause for the arrest of Jesus rather than the sharp attack on the temple. The attack on the temple serves as a preparation for the saying on “true worshipers” in 4:21.
* 2:17 This is a quote from Ps 69:10 although the tense was changed. The word, “remembered”, is a technical word in John for the process by which the community came to see Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture after the resurrection.
* They also ask for a sign in the other gospels. The statement in Zec would indicate that the action is itself a sign. See Zec 14:21
* 2:19 Jesus� answer to their question would have been totally unintelligible to them. Typical of John there is a misunderstanding which gives the writer an opportunity to explain the meaning to the reader.
* 2:21 Here John explains the symbolic meaning of Jesus� statement to the reader. The replacement of the temple by the resurrected body of Jesus in which the Holy Spirit is present is a major idea in the Gospel of John. For John, Jesus is the reality of all the religious symbols of Israel expressed together at the same time.
* 2:22 In this verse John seems to make the word of Jesus equal to the scriptures, the Word of God. </font
Scripture text: New American Bible with revised New Testament copyright © 1986,1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Commentary Sources:
Vince Del Greco
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990) (Eds. Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy)