Readings for Sunday, November 9, 2014

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

Lectionary: 67

Festa tal-Konsagrazzjoni tal-Bażilka tal-Lateran

Reading 1      EZekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12

T

he angel 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 façade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple, south of the altar. 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. 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.  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. 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.” This is the Word of The Lord.

1 Qari      EZekjel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 [

L

-anglu mbagħad ħadni lura ħdejn il-bieb tas-santwarju; u ara, kien hemm l-ilma ħiereġ minn taħt l-għatba tas-santwarju lejn il-lvant - għax is-santwarju kien iħares lejn il-lvant. U l-ilma kien ħiereġ min-naħa tal-lemin ta' l-għatba, in-naħa tan-nofsinhar ta' l-altar. Mbagħad ħariġni mill-bieb tat-tramuntana u mexxieni madwar, minn barra, sal-bieb ta' barra li jħares lejn il-lvant; u l-ilma kien inixxi min-naħa tal-lemin ta' l-għatba . . U qalli: "Dan l-ilma ħiereġ lejn in- naħa tal-lvant u nieżel lejn l-Għaraba; u meta jasal fil-Baħar il-Mejjet b'dak l-ilma mielaħ, l-ilma jsir ilma ħelu. U jiġri li, kull fejn tgħaddi dik ix-xmara, kull ħaġa ħajja li tiċċaqlaq tgħix; u jkun hemm kotra kbira ta' ħut, għax, minn kull fejn jgħaddi dak l-ilma, l-ilma jitjieb u jkun hemm il-ħajja minn kull fejn tgħaddi x-xmara. Fuq iż-żewġt ixtut tax-xmara jikbru siġar ta' kull ġens ta' frott; il-weraq tagħhom ma jidbielx, il-frott tagħhom ma jonqosx. Kull xahar jagħmlu frott ġdid, għax l-ilma tagħhom ħiereġ mit-tempju, u l-frott tagħhom ikun ikel, u l-weraq duwa." Kelma tal-Mulej.

Responsorial Psalm      PSalm 46 (45):2-3, 5-6, 8-9

God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore, we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!

The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth. 
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!

Salm Responsorjali   -   SALM 46 (45)

Rit: Tifraħ il-belt ta’ Alla!

Kenn u qawwa hu Alla għalina,

għajnuna kbira sibnieh fid-dwejjaq.

Għalhekk ma nibżgħux jekk l-art titriegħed,

jew jiġġarrfu l-muntanji f'nofs ta' baħar;      R/

Hemm xmara li s-swieqi tagħha iferrħu l-belt ta' Alla,

l-għamara qaddisa ta' l-Għoli.

Hemm Alla f'nofsha, ma titħarrikx;

jgħinha Alla mat-tbexbix  tas-sebħ.                R/

Il-Mulej ta' l-eżerċti magħna,

fortizza għalina Alla ta' Ġakobb!

Ejjew, araw x'għamel il-Mulej,

għemejjel ta' l-għaġeb fuq l-art.                R/

Reading 2        1 CORinthians 3:9C-11, 16-17

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rothers and sisters:  You are God’s building.  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,  for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God,  and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple,  God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. This is the Word of The Lord.

2 Qari        1 kORintin 3:9C-11, 16-17                  

H

uti:  Intom il-bini ta' Alla. Skond il-grazzja li tani Alla, bħala bennej għaqli, jiena qegħedt il-pedament. Ħaddieħor jibni fuqu; imma jqis kull wieħed kif jibni fuqu. Pedament ieħor ħadd ma jista' jqiegħed ħlief dak li ġa tqiegħed; u dan hu Ġesù Kristu. Ma tafux li intom tempju ta' Alla, u li l-Ispirtu ta' Alla jgħammar fikom?  Jekk xi ħadd jeqred it-tempju ta' Alla, Alla jeqred lilu. Għax qaddis hu t-tempju ta' Alla, li huwa intom. Kelma tal-Mulej.

Gospel       JohN 2:13-22

S

ince the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. 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, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a  arketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his Body. 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.  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-EVANGELJU   –  GWANNI 2:13-22

F’

dak iż-żmien: Kien qorob il-Għid tal-Lhud, u Ġesù tela’ Ġerusalemm. Fit-Tempju sab min qiegħed ibigħ, ngħaġ u ħamiem, u min kien bilqiegħda jsarraf il-flus. Għamel sawt mill-ħabel u keċċiehom ilkoll mit-Tempju, bin-ngħaġ u l-barrin tagħhom; xerred il-flus ta’ dawk li kienu jsarrfu, u qalbilhom l-imwejjed. U lill-bejjiegħa tal-ħamiem qalilhom: “Warrbu dawn minn hawn, dar Missieri tagħmluhiex suq.” Id-dixxipli ftakru f’dak li kien hemm miktub, “Il-ħeġġa għal darek kilitni.” Imbagħad il-Lhud qabdu u qalulu: “X’sinjal turina biex qiegħed tagħmel dan?”  Wieġeb Ġesù u qalilhom: “Ħottu dan it-tempju, u fi tlitt ijiem nerġa’ ntellgħu.” Għalhekk il-Lhud qalulu: “Dan it-Tempju ħa sitta u erbgħin sena biex inbena, u int sa ttellgħu fi tlitt ijiem?” Iżda hu tkellem fuq it-tempju tal-ġisem tiegħu. Meta mbagħad qam mill-imwiet, id-dixxipli ftakru f’dak li kien qal u emmnu fl-Iskrittura u fil-kliem li kien qal Ġesù. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.  

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The Importance of the House of God

Gospel Commentary for Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome - By Fr Raniero Cantalamessa ofm cap

This year, in the place of the usual Sunday in Ordinary Time, we celebrate the feast of the Dedication of Lateran Basilica in Rome, the cathedral of Rome, originally dedicated to the Saviour, but then to St. John the Baptist.

What does the dedication and existence of a church, understood as a place of worship, represent for the Christian liturgy and Christian spirituality? We must begin with the words of John's Gospel: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such worshippers.”

Jesus teaches that God’s temple is primarily the human heart, which has welcomed the Word of God. Speaking of himself and of the Father, Jesus says: “We will come to him and make our abode in him” (John 14:23), and Paul writes one of his communities: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). The believer, then, is the new temple of God. But the place of God’s presence and Christ’s is also there “where two or more are gathered in my name” (Matthew 18:20). 

The Second Vatican Council calls the Christian family a “domestic Church” (“Lumen Gentium,” 11), that is, a little temple of God, precisely because, thanks to the sacrament of matrimony, it is, par excellence, the place where “two or more” are gathered in my name.

So, by what right do we Christians give such importance to church buildings if each one of us can worship God in spirit and truth in our own heart, or in his own house? Why this obligation to go to church every Sunday? The answer is that Jesus Christ does not save us separately from each other; he has come to form a people, a community of persons, in communion with him and among themselves.

What a house is for a family, a church is for the family of God. There is no family without a house. One of the films of Italian neo-realism that I still remember is “Il Tetto” (“The Roof”), written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica. In postwar Rome a poor young man and woman fall in love and get married but do not have a home. Under Italian law at the time, once a house had a roof, its occupants could not be evicted. The couple hurriedly try to put a roof on a ramshackle dwelling and when they succeed, they are overjoyed and embrace, knowing that they have a home, a place of intimacy; they are a family.

I have seen this story repeat itself in many places in cities, towns and villages where there was no church and the people needed to build one. The solidarity and enthusiasm, the joy of working together with the priest to give the community a place of worship and a place to meet -- they are all stories that would merit a film such as De Sica’s.

We must also consider a sad phenomenon: the massive drop in church attendance and participation in Sunday Mass. The statistics on religious practice should make one weep. I do not say that those who do not go to church no longer believe; It is rather that they have replaced the religion instituted by Christ with a “do it yourself” religion, what in America they call “pick and choose,” like you do at the supermarket. Everyone makes up his own idea of God, of prayer, and he is content with it.

Thus it is forgotten that God revealed himself in Christ, that Christ preached a Gospel, that he founded an “ekklesia,” that is, an assembly of those called, he instituted sacraments as signs and conveyors of his presence and salvation. Ignoring this in order to cultivate your own image of God is to advocate total religious subjectivism. We take ourselves as the only standard: God is reduced -- as the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach said -- to a projection of our own needs and desires; it is no longer God who creates man in his image, but man who creates a god in his image. But it is not a god who saves!

Of course, a religion that is entirely made up of external practices has no point; we see Jesus fighting against such a religion everywhere in the Gospel. But there is no contradiction between a religion of signs and sacraments and one that is intimate, personal; there is no contradiction between ritual and spirit. The great religious geniuses (Augustine, Pascal, Kierkegaard, our own Alessandro Manzoni) were men of a profound and personal interiority who were at the same time members of a community, went to church, they “practiced.”

In the “Confessions” (VIII, 2) St. Augustine recounts the great Roman philosopher and rhetorician Victorinus’ conversion to Christianity from paganism. Now convinced of the truth of Christianity he told the priest Simplicianus: “You know I am already Christian.” Simplicianus answered him: “I will not believe you until I see you in the church of Christ.” Victorinus replied: “Is it the walls that make a Christian?” The skirmish continued between the two. But one day Victorinus read in the Gospel these words of Christ: “Whoever disowns me in this generation, I will disown before my Father.” He understood that it was human respect, fear of what his academic colleagues would say, that kept him from going to church. He went to Simplicianus and said to him: “Let’s go to church, I want to become a Christian.” I think that this story has something to say to people of culture today too.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]