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Ezekiel 47:9 – (GNT) [1] 9 Wherever the stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring life.
Psalm 46:4 –
4 There is a river that brings joy to the city of God,
to the sacred house of the Most High.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?* 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
In Greek this pronoun is second person, plural.
2 Chronicles 7:16 – 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
John 2:21-22 – 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) This weekend I’m posting something a little different from the usual. This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. It is a “fixed day” feast which means it must always be celebrated on November 9th. Today I am sharing with you some background on this important building because we may not fully understand why it’s so important.
The photo above gives us an aerial view of this immense church, The Church of the People, The Pope’s Cathedral, St. John Lateran Bascilica. I want to share a few more photos with you before I attempt to give a brief (we hope!) history of this remarkable site. In this photo you can get an inkling of the immense size of this complex. The façade is Over 100 feet tall. and topped by huge statues which are over 27 meters tall. As you can see, the church is built in a cross shape, and you can see the transept farther back in the photo. Adjacent to it are other buildings which are used as residences and administrative functions.
Below is a photo of the Main Altar , and next to that image is a photo of the Tabernacle. Truly amazing, beautiful, and majestic!
(Please excuse my amateurish photoshopping without Photoshop)
On the façade of the Church are the Latin words “omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput.” This translates in English as “The mother and head of all the churches of the city and of the world.” The Lateran Basilica is the first, oldest (over 1,700 years old!) and central Church of the Roman Catholic World. As mentioned above it is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome – the Pope. At this site there originally stood a palace owned by Plautius Lateranus in the early years of the first century AD. In 65 AD, it was confiscated by the Emperor Nero and Plautius was executed for conspiring against him. Around 313 AD, The Emperor Constantine donated it to the care of Pope Sylvester I. Construction began in 314, and it served as the Papal residence for over 1000 years. It was originally dedicated to Christ the Savior. Eventually it became the first Cathedral in Rome. It remained the principal papal residence until 1309 AD when the Western Schism took place, and the Pope’s move to Avignon France. Nearly 70 years later when the Pope returned to Rome, The building was in poor shape and it wasn’t until 1586 that It was fully refitted. After that time however it no longer remained the quarters where the Pope lived, but became the principal church of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XIII set the permanent feast day on November 9 in 1726.
The Basilica is more than just an historical and architectural monument. It is also a significant testimony to the freedom of faith and religion. Thanks to the Emperor Constantine, Christians could worship without fear of persecution, and that is the principal symbolic meaning for this fantastic edifice. We celebrate the feast on a Sunday every few years and this year is one of them. In the future, you may have an opportunity to recall why it is so important that this particular church, the Church of the Church, is celebrated. And now it’s time to turn our attention to the Scripture readings for this weekend which emphasize the importance of religious places and activities.
I chose to begin with 2 Chronicles 7:16 which is the Gospel verse – chanted during the Alleluia – and really sets the tone for the entire celebration. This passage comes from the Prayer of Dedication given by Solomon when he dedicated the temple that he had just completed. It also contains the famous passage frequently cited in social media which is 2 Chronicles 7:14 — 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Verse 16 is spoken by Solomon during the vision where God appeared to him for a second time and told Solomon that the sanctuary he had built would be there forever as a representation of his Name and Power. That is why this passage is included in this weekend’s readings, because it speaks of a definite and permanent place of holiness where God is to be worshiped.
In Ezekiel 47:9, the Lord God is giving the Prophet Ezekiel a guided tour of the future Temple for Jerusalem. He is describing a river that flows from it in this verse. We here recall what Jesus said about “Living Water”: In John 4:10, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that if she had known who was asking her for a drink of water, he would have given her “streams of Living Water.” This, of course, refers to the Gospel and the works of the Holy Spirit. Just down the page is John 4:13-14, where Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The waters in Ezekiel’s vision keep getting deeper, broader, and swifter, and whatever they touched sprang to New Life. It is the same with the Living Water of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel as the Gospel grows out from the Basilica to all the world, growing deeper, wider, and stronger as it is spread throughout the world – originating at the Lateran Basilica. IMHO, that is pretty cool! Here’s how Ezekiel’s vision came to fruition in the Second Temple.
In Psalm 46:4, the theme of a river is again expressed. We can see here as well how this prefigures the M.O. of the Holy Spirit – There is a river that brings joy to the city of God, to the sacred house of the Most High. There is no greater Joy than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church founded on the Corner Stone the Builders Rejected – Jesus, the Christ of God – and built on the foundation laid out for her by the Apostles, notably through the Holy Spirit’s use of The Apostle Paul and his associates. In our Key Verse from 1 Corinthians Chapter 3, The Apostle Paul is castigating the Corinthian church for their divisions. He explains how he carefully laid down a foundation on which others built up the church, and that they themselves are the True Church, the People of God. He tells them, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” We also recall the words of The Apostle Peter who wrote in 1 Peter 2:4-5 – 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. WE are the living stones, fashioned unto the image of the Original Living Cornerstone. The Apostle Paul goes onto say, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” He is telling us that our own sins which we retain and guard so fiercely sometimes can bring about the destruction of that Holy temple of God wherein the Holy Spirit dwells. We also recall his words in Romans 8:7-9 – 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. We can destroy the Living Stone that we are by disobedience which is the fruit of Pride. We come together in our church buildings as Church to humbly and obediently give God the worship to which he is entitled through and in Christ Jesus.
We call the buildings where we worship churches, but we all know that the Church is not a building of brick, mortar, wood, and steel but rather WE – Baptized, Confirmed, and consecrated to God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit – WE ARE THE Church. The Lateran Basilica is our Church Home, the Church’s Church, but we are The Church of Jesus who is, was, and always will be the Christ of God. In and through Christ we have access to the Holy Spirit, the stream of Living Water. Jesus used this image again in John 7:37-38 – 37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (↔ Music Link) I am reminded of Isaiah 12:3 – 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of Salvation as well as Isaiah 55:1 – Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters; indeed all throughout Scripture, Life in God’s Peace is flowing like a river. (↔ Music Link)
Lastly, in our Gospel Key Verse, Jesus has mystified his adversaries and his Disciples by telling them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Later, the Disciples – including us – understood that he was referring to the Temple of HIS body, which we might assume was certainly a Temple of the Holy Spirit. All of this comes together when we understand that Christ is the Head of the Body of Christ – that is, the Church – and that we are all One Body in him, who is the One Bread (↔ Music Link) come down from Heaven. And while we have one church that is the Mother Church of then Whole World – even of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters – we are all built upon a single foundation centered on the Corner Stone whom God chose to be the unifier of all who have fallen short of the Glory of God. The Lateran Basilica’s opulence is a reminder of the lavishness of God’s Grace. It serves as reminder that the Church has a place which marks and honors its inception, a place that is our Church Home, and a place that is The Church’s Church.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
