[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, November 9, 2025, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. This week's episode is entitled: Zeal for Your House. And in these readings, we are reminded of how important it is to properly revere and respect all places of worship, for they are sacred spaces where we can encounter God here on this earth.
[00:00:47] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
The Lateran Basilica in Rome is the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. God's Spirit flows outward from every church - through the waters of Baptism, through the words and actions of those who live the Gospel message, and the good work done in the world by the Church. How do we, as individual Christians, ensure that our words and actions reflect the Spirit of God that dwells with within us?
[00:01:26] Let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of our Holy Father, the Pope. Help us to remain faithful to your Gospel, to be faithful to the Church your Son established, to live as you intend us to live, and to do your work of loving others in this world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:01] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's learn about this Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome that will again interrupt our regular Sunday cycle of readings. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - back in September - I talked a bit about the Edict of Milan, which, as you may recall, granted Christians the freedom to worship openly in the Roman Empire without persecution. That freedom led to the construction of a large number of churches, including the Lateran Basilica.
[00:02:37] In fact, Constantine the Great ordered the construction of the Lateran Basilica in the 4th century AD. It was built on the Caelian Hill in Rome, on land donated by the wealthy Lateran family, which is partially where the name comes from. It was first dedicated to Christ the Savior on November 9th in the year 324 AD by Pope Sylvester I.
[00:03:06] It has since that time been rededicated twice… once in the 10th century to Saint John the Baptist and again in the 12th century to Saint John the Evangelist.
[00:03:21] Although the Lateran Basilica has been damaged several times over the centuries by fires, earthquakes, and war, it has always been rebuilt. The final reconstruction and renovation took place under the direction of Pope Benedict XIII, who rededicated the Basilica in its current form in 1724.
[00:03:44] Throughout its long history, the Lateran Basilica, also sometimes called Saint John Lateran, hosted a total of five ecumenical councils. The First Lateran Council in the 12th century was attended by 900 bishops and abbots - which is pretty impressive when you factor in the difficulty of travel in the 12th century. That council was the ninth ecumenical council of the Church and the first to be held in in Western Europe.
[00:04:20] The Fifth and final Lateran Council took place in the 16th century and concluded just 28 short years before the Council of Trent was convened to formulate the Catholic response to challenges posed by the Protestant Reformation. The Lateran Basilica was also the site where the Lateran Treaty was signed in 1929, which established Vatican City as an independent, sovereign state. It is fully surrounded by the city of Rome and the country of Italy, but it is - by itself - an independent country.
[00:05:02] The Lateran Baptistery, which is adjacent to the Basilica, was also constructed in the 4th century, possibly on Constantine's orders, although there is some debate about that. The initial building was a simple round structure erected over a naturally occurring spring where Baptisms were already taking place.
[00:05:27] The enclosure of that spring made the Lateran Baptistery into the first official Baptistery in the city, and it has been continually active since the building's completion in the 4th century.
[00:05:44] The austere brick exterior of the current building is a result of a remodel by Pope Sixtus III in the 5th century. It has eight sides to represent Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday - the 8th day - when he rose from death to eternal life. In the letter to the Romans, Saint Paul links Christ's Resurrection to the Sacrament of Baptism, saying that those who enter the waters of Baptism die with Christ and emerge reborn to newness of life through water and the Holy Spirit. If you listened to last week's episode about the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, you heard about that particular theology in depth.
[00:06:33] There is an impressive basalt tub in the center of the Baptistery where Baptisms still take place today. However, it is difficult to establish the provenance of that basalt font. Some sources say it dates from antiquity, while others claim it dates from the 17th century.
[00:06:59] Unfortunately, the official website of the Lateran Basilica doesn't address the topic of the font at all, so I'm not able to shed any additional light on that particular subject. It is worth noting that the Lateran Baptistery has undergone several renovations.
[00:07:16] The first and most notable took place, as I mentioned, in the 5th century when the exterior was rebuilt. At that same time, other renovations were done on the interior and an inscription added that was written by one of Pope Sixtus' deacons.
[00:07:36] You may have heard of him - he became Pope after the death of Sixtus III and we now call him Leo the Great.
[00:07:46] The last major renovation took place in the 17th century under the direction of Pope Urban VIII. The eight-sided design of the Lateran Baptistery has served as a model for Baptisteries and fonts down through the ages. In fact, if you're a member of my home parish, you know that we have an eight-sided Baptismal font. And you should also be quite familiar with the inscription from Pope Saint Leo the Great, since it is carved into the stone at the base of our font in Latin with the English translation surrounding it on the floor around the font. Now, I mentioned that the Lateran Basilica has been dedicated on three separate occasions. And while it is often simply called the Lateran Basilica, its full name is actually the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran.
[00:08:54] Quite a mouthful. So, you can see why that name is often simplified.
[00:08:59] I also just introduced a new term there when I said Archbasilica, so this might be a good time to learn a bit more about Basilicas in general.
[00:09:10] First of all, only the Pope has the authority to designate a church as a Basilica. Churches are named Basilicas because they are historically, architecturally, artistically, or spiritually significant centers of worship for the Catholic faithful - and they are then further classified as either major or minor Basilicas, a distinction that arose sometime during the 18th century.
[00:09:44] Now, a Basilica may or may not also be the cathedral church of a diocese. A cathedral, of course, is the principal church of a diocese housing the diocesan bishop's ceremonial chair. In fact, the term cathedral comes from the name of that ceremonial chair, which is cathedra.
[00:10:06] For example, here in my home diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, a minor basilica, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is located on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, but it is not the cathedral church of our diocese. Our diocese actually has two different co-cathedrals: Saint Matthew Cathedral here in South Bend, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne. And the bishop has two cathedras, one in each cathedral. There are over 1900 Basilicas in existence and almost all are minor Basilicas. There are only four major Basilicas in the entire world, and they are all in Rome.
[00:10:59] Only one of those is both a major Basilica and the Papal Archbasilica - and that of course, is Saint John Lateran, the very church whose dedication we celebrate this weekend. The other major basilicas are Saint Peter's which is in Vatican City, Saint Mary Major, which came into the news recently because that is where Pope Francis was interred, and Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Of the four major basilicas, only Saint Peter's is actually within the territorial boundaries of Vatican City. The other three, although outside Vatican City proper, nevertheless all belong to the Holy See.
[00:11:47] And interestingly enough, most people think Saint Peter's is the cathedral church of Rome - it is not!
[00:11:55] That honor belongs to the Lateran Basilica. If you've ever been to Rome and seen the Lateran Basilica, you know that it has quite an imposing façade.
[00:12:07] It rises an impressive 460 feet above the level of the street below.
[00:12:15] Atop its height, stand 15 statues that are each nearly 23 feet tall. A statue of Jesus occupies pride of place in the center, flanked by John the Baptist and John the Evangelist; the remaining twelve figures are Doctors of the Church.
[00:12:40] Inside the Basilica, the cathedra, the official ceremonial chair of the Bishop of Rome, is located in the apse behind the main altar. That main (or papal) altar at the front of the nave houses a wooden altar where, according to tradition, Saint Peter himself celebrated Mass.
[00:13:06] And the baldacchino over the main altar contains relics of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
[00:13:15] The nave of the church is lined with statues of the Apostles carved by the Italian architect and sculptor Lorenzo Bernini, who also created Saint Peter's Square. Saint John Lateran is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Pope as the Bishop of Rome. To this day, the final official rite of the election of a new Pope concludes with a procession to Saint John Lateran, where the Pope's installation is finally complete when he takes his seat upon the cathedra of the Bishop of Rome. We just witnessed that recently as Pope Leo XIV took possession of the cathedra during a Special Mass on May 25th.
[00:14:09] If you're interested in seeing that, there is a wonderful video of that Mass from EWTN that is available on YouTube.
[00:14:19] So far, I've provided a lot of information about the Basilica itself, but not why we celebrate it. So let me do that now.
[00:14:29] And let me start by saying that the anniversary of the dedication of any church is a cause for great celebration by its parishioners, which is why such anniversaries are typically celebrated as feasts.
[00:14:44] But why, you may ask, does the Universal Church celebrate the dedication of the Lateran Basilica? After all, it's just another church in Rome, right?
[00:14:54] No, it's not! Saint John Lateran is known as the mother and head of all the churches of the city and the world - the city of Rome and the entire world - precisely because it is the Pope's cathedral church, which makes it the spiritual home of all Catholics everywhere in the world. The Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica was initially observed only in the city of Rome, but that was extended to the Universal Church in 1565.
[00:15:31] Hopefully you now have a better handle on why this feast is so important that we celebrate it every year, even if it doesn't often fall on a Sunday.
[00:15:42] I have a number of pictures of the Lateran Basilica from my trip to Rome and I will include those on my Instagram this week. And now that we have both opened our hearts in prayer and have gained a better understanding of this week's feast, let's see what the Scriptures have to say to us.
[00:16:03] Our Gospel this week is from John 2: 13-22.
“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade.’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ Then the Jews said to him, ‘What sign have you to show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?’ But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”
This week we are again in Saint John's Gospel rather than the Gospel of Luke. And this part of John's Gospel tells us that Jesus just arrived in Jerusalem for the first Passover of his public ministry. It's interesting to note that the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) devote more time to Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and Capernaum, while John devotes a majority of his Gospel to Jesus’ time in Jerusalem. Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) reminded us that the Synoptics only include one Passover and thus placed the Cleansing of the Temple at the end of Jesus’ public ministry.
[00:18:24] John, however, includes all three Passovers and situates the Cleansing at the first Passover. Cardinal Ratzinger wrote that there is a good reason to consider John's account to be the most chronologically accurate since Jesus’ fundamental purpose for Cleansing the Temple was to remove any obstacles that stood in the way of authentic worship of God. The court of the Gentiles, which is where the cleansing takes place, is… and I quote: “the open space to which the whole world is invited, in order to pray there to the one God” (and that is from the book: Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, which was published in 2011, just two years before Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy).
[00:19:25] So, with all that in mind, let's listen to John's account of the Cleansing of the Temple…
“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”
Remember, Jerusalem sits atop Mount Zion, so it is always said that people ascend or go up to that city.
[00:19:46] “In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business.”
[00:19:54] This business that was being conducted took place within the temple, specifically, as I just mentioned, in the Court of the Gentiles.
[00:20:04] And it's important for us to understand that such business was, in fact, necessary. Roman currency had to be exchanged before people could pay their temple tax. So, changing money was a legitimate practice associated with temple worship. And when people had to travel long distances to reach Jerusalem, it wasn't feasible for them to bring their own animals with them that would then be sacrificed in the temple. So, selling sacrificial animals was also legitimate business.
[00:20:43] Jesus’ anger arose not from fair business practices that were conducted in an open marketplace and served legitimate need… no, no, no! His anger stemmed from the fact that merchants and money-changers were conducting dishonest, unethical commerce within the confines of the temple that interfered with Gentiles coming there to pray. That interfered, in fact, with anyone that wanted to come and pray in the Court of the Gentiles.
[00:21:23] I have a diagram of the Temple of Herod, and it shows clearly the Court of the Gentiles. So, I will include that diagram on my Instagram account this week as well.
[00:21:37] “After making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade.’”
[00:21:58] The aggressive action Jesus undertakes foreshadows the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.
[00:22:10] Likewise, the expulsion of the animals (oxen, sheep, and pigeons), foreshadows the end of any type of animal sacrifice in the temple. Because of course, that sacrifice will end when the temple is destroyed.
[00:22:30] “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”
[00:22:36] That quote comes from verse 9 of Psalm 69. It means that the righteous are disturbed by the insults heaped upon God and upon them (those who are righteous) by those who dishonor God.
[00:22:54] “The Jews then said to him,”
Okay, remember, whenever John says the Jews, he means the Jewish authorities. They were all Jews!
Benedict XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger) also wrote in Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week that Jesus’ cleansing of the temple was an attack NOT on the temple itself, but on the misuse brought about because the temple authorities allowed those corrupt practices to become customary, commonplace. The same Jewish authorities that now question Jesus saying…
“What sign have you to show us for doing this?”
[00:23:38] Remember, John situates this event at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. This is the first of three Passovers where he will travel to Jerusalem. So, in the minds of the Jewish authorities, this is quite a legitimate question. They don't know much about Jesus yet.
[00:24:01] As I said, his public ministry is just beginning. But it is certainly not the last time that they will question Jesus or ask him for a sign.
[00:24:14] “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’”
[00:24:21] We need to listen carefully to Jesus' words there… he doesn't say destroy THE TEMPLE - he says, destroy THIS temple. Given the manner in which events transpired, we know that Jesus wasn't talking about Herod's Temple - the complex in which they were all standing - but the temple of his own body. And John will get to that presently.
“The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?’”
[00:24:59] The Jewish authorities, of course, are talking about Herod's Temple and the building and expansion project that has taken 46 years - so far.
[00:25:11] “But he spoke of the temple of his body.”
[00:25:16] With those words, John confirms what we had already surmised.
[00:25:22] “When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed in the Scripture and the words which Jesus had spoken.”
[00:25:35] In chapter 14 of John's Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples at the Last Supper “the Holy Spirit will remind you of all that I told you” and this is one of those instances. John says “when he was raised from the dead” - meaning after Jesus was Resurrected, the Holy Spirit reminded the disciples of Jesus' words, which allowed them to then make so many important connections with Scripture, which of course means the Old Testament (the Jewish Bible, the Jewish Scriptures), where the promises that God had made about the Messiah were recorded.
And they made connections with Jesus, with his ministry, with his life, his teachings, his Passion, his Death, and his Resurrection. John's Gospel wasn't written until around 90 AD, so there was plenty of time for John to think and reflect on events and experiences before committing them to paper.
[00:26:46] Just as we asked ourselves why the Universal Church celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, we may be asking ourselves what this reading has to do with that commemoration.
[00:26:59] That answer lies within the heart of every person of faith, because we should all be reverent and respectful, not only of our churches, but also of shrines, relics, and sacred art. That reverence - that respect - is how we, Catholic Christians specifically, but all Christians, can ensure that our words and actions show the world that the Spirit of God dwells within us.
[00:27:41] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12.
[00:27:50] “[An angel] brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the right side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the right side. And he said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Ar’abah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
The prophet Ezekiel was from a priestly family, likely a resident of Jerusalem, and was probably included among the elite who were deported in the first wave of the Babylonian exile in 597 BC.
[00:29:46] This particular passage comes toward the end of the book and is part of what are called the Oracles of Restoration (and those are found in chapters 33 - 48). This is part of Ezekiel's last vision, which actually takes nine entire chapters to fully recount. Much like the vision we read earlier in chapters 8-11, the prophet is again taken on a guided tour - so to speak - by an angel who shows Ezekiel the new temple in the new Jerusalem.
[00:30:27] So let's listen in to Ezekiel's vision…
[00:30:31] “[An angel] brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the right side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the right side.”
That is all of verses 1 and 2… and those verses I wanted to keep together because the water described there is reminiscent of the river of life described in Genesis 2, which flowed out of Eden and brought life to the entire world.
[00:31:30] What Ezekiel's vision of this river is intended to suggest is that this new river, which flows from the Temple, now reinvigorates and gives new life to the entire world.
[00:31:49] “And he said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Ar’abah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh.”
Again, Ezekiel's vision indicates that the restored temple is now the source of life-giving water, that it becomes, in essence, a new river of life.
[00:32:18] It's unfortunate that we don't understand the geography that Ezekiel is referencing here, because if we did, this passage would make a lot more sense. So let me expound on that a little bit. The Arabah mentioned here is a combination of the Jordan Rift Valley and the Arabah Valley. The Jordan Rift Valley starts in the north, where the River Jordan exits from the Sea of Galilee and extends down to the Dead Sea where the River Jordan ends.
[00:32:52] The Arabah Valley begins south of the Dead Sea and extends all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.
[00:33:01] So, when Ezekiel says this water “enters the stagnant waters of the sea” - he's referring to the waters of the Dead Sea, which we know now supports some microscopic organisms, but no plant or animal life that is visible to the naked eye. That's why it got the name: the Dead Sea.
[00:33:26] And Ezekiel's vision is saying to us that the water from the new temple is so pure and efficacious that even the Dead Sea will be restored and made fresh.
[00:33:42] I know I've included pictures of the Dead Sea in previous Instagram posts, but I will add some pictures again this week.
“And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food.”
The water flowing from the new temple will restore and revitalize everything it touches… the land through which it flows will have plant and animal life flourish along its banks, and within its boundaries all types of fish will thrive.
[00:34:42] That was not necessarily the case in Ezekiel's time… it is still not necessarily the case. There's a lot of desert between Galilee and the Dead Sea. But this vision offers a promise of what will be.
[00:35:01] “Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
[00:35:21] The waters from the new temple will bring about abundant growth of trees whose fruit crops will support and sustain life and whose leaves will restore health. The basic purpose of this divine water is to bring life and Ezekiel's vision illustrates that God's life-giving water, which dried up with the fall of humankind, will now flow freely from God's dwelling place and heal all the land.
Christians see this life-giving water flowing forth from God's dwelling place as the waters of the Sacrament of Baptism, waters that cleanse us from sin and bring healing and new life in Christ… waters through which the goodness of the Spirit of God flows outward from every church… waters that bestow God's Holy Spirit on each of us…
[00:36:41] So that - through the kind words and loving actions of every Christian - we can show the world that the Spirit of God dwells within each of us. But it has to be through kind words and loving actions!
[00:36:59] That brings us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 34, and the refrain is:
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.”
[00:37:14] The NAB translates that similarly, but its translation says: "The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.” And the Grail Psalter translates that as: “The waters of a river give joy to God's city, the holy place, the dwelling of the Most High.” Now these are all essentially the same. I find it fascinating, however, that the RSV and the Grail translation say A river, while the NAB translates it as THE river.
[00:37:51] The Hebrew word nā·hār, used here in this Psalm, is the same word used in Genesis 2 to describe the River of Life that flows out of the Garden of Eden.
And here are the verses:
[00:38:05] “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.”
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.”
“The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has wrought desolations in the earth.”
[00:38:51] This Psalm is a Psalm of Praise and Confidence in God. Possibly the most famous line from this Psalm doesn't even appear in this week's passage because the verse in which it is found is verse 10, and this week's passage ends with verse 8.
[00:39:09] But the iconic line from verse 10 is: “Be still and know that I am God.”
This Psalm assures us that God is in control of all things, and he will always provide hope and refuge amid chaos.
[00:39:30] In the second stanza this week, we hear the words “a river whose streams make glad the city of God” - which shows why this Psalm was paired with Ezekiel.
[00:39:42] It's also worth noting that the images in this Psalm inspired Martin Luther to compose the hymn: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” And if you're unfamiliar with the lyrics, look them up. It's a beautiful, beautiful hymn!
[00:39:55] That takes us to our Second Reading which is from 1 Corinthians 3: 9c-11, 16-17.
[00:40:12] “[Brothers and sisters:] [Y]ou are God's building. According to the commission of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.”
[00:41:06] Remember, 1 Corinthians is an Occasional Letter which actually dealt with a number of issues that were troubling the Corinthian community at the time. It was probably written in Ephesus during Paul's Third Missionary Journey (53 - 58 AD).
[00:41:27] Corinth, remember, was a flourishing cosmopolitan city, an important trade link between Rome in the west and Asia to the East.
[00:41:37] This letter was written nearly five years after Paul established the church in Corinth and - as I said - a number of problems had developed… not the least of which was a growing division within the Christian community.
[00:41:59] Sound familiar? There's quite a growing rift in the worldwide Christian community right now!
In this passage… in this passage, Paul is reminding the Corinthians that that all Christians are united in Christ, regardless of who they are, regardless of their wealth or lack thereof, regardless of their social status or lack thereof. We are all, as Christians, united in Christ.
[00:42:37] So let's listen again to what Paul has to say…
[00:42:42] “[Brothers and sisters:] [Y]ou are God's building.”
We are all united in Christ, every single Baptized person… we are all united in the church. That is one of Paul's most famous analogies!
“According to the commission of God given to me,”
[00:43:05] And again, Paul is reminding his listeners that he received his commission directly from Jesus - the Risen Jesus - and it was given to him on the road to Damascus.
[00:43:21] “like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it.”
[00:43:28] That phrase reminds us that success in ministry is the work of God, not the work of one teacher or another.
[00:43:40] Christians must not overestimate the importance of any one teacher, any particular priest, any particular theologian. Rather, recognize that we are all doing the work assigned to each of us by God, and we are all workers in God's vineyard. Paul may have established the church in Corinth, but Apollos followed after Paul to foster the continued spiritual growth of the community.
[00:44:17] That is what Paul means when he says “another man is building upon it.” He's talking about the foundation he laid and upon which Apollos is now building up the community.
[00:44:32] “Let each man take care how he builds upon it.”
[00:44:37] In other words, be certain that your foundation rests solely upon the person of Jesus and that the teachings you promote and spread are faithful to the good news Jesus taught - the good news that we as modern Christians now find in the Gospel.
[00:45:02] Not a message that the world necessarily accepts nor spreads, but the message that we as Christians must adhere to, accept, and live for.
“No other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
[00:45:26] Jesus is the only stable, sure foundation upon which a good Christian life can be built and whatever contradicts Jesus is wrong… it is as straightforward and as simple as that!
[00:45:45] When Jesus says: “love your enemies” - as he does in Matthew 5 and Luke 6… but a voice in the world says: no, hate your enemies… that voice is wrong! And remember, in 1 Thessalonians, Paul says: “test everything, hold fast to what is good.”
[00:46:06] So, compare everything to the Gospel and when something or someone - or even several someones - espouse messages that are contrary to what Jesus teaches, that thing… that person… those people are wrong.
[00:46:31] “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”
[00:46:40] The temple in Jerusalem was still standing when Paul wrote this letter, providing a tangible example of the type of unified, substantial building his listeners should aspire to be - but at the same time, in Paul's mind, the stone temple in Jerusalem, no matter how solid and sturdy it was, had been replaced - superseded - by the living, eternal, Resurrected Body of Jesus.
[00:47:14] “If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.”
[00:47:21] And when Paul says “God's temple” here, he doesn't mean the temple in Jerusalem this time, not even as an example of a well-built structure. He is talking about the unity that exists between individual believers, the unity that is brought about by the Sacrament of Baptism, the unity in the Church.
[00:47:46] And he means that those who tear down God's temple, those who damage the faith of others, who interfere with good works, who are destructive influences - they themselves will be destroyed.
[00:48:08] That sounds like a frightening statement! And it's supposed to be, because Paul then goes on…
“For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.”
He's talking to each member of the Corinthian community – absolutely - but he's talking to each one of us as well!
[00:48:36] That means that each and every one of us has to decide for ourselves what type of builder we are going to be. Are we going to be holy and allow God's love to dwell within us and guide our actions?
[00:48:57] Or are we going to follow the loudest voices in our off-kilter world, our off-kilter society, and allow hatred and division to guide our actions?
[00:49:16] In case you're still unsure - after all our readings this week - the correct answer is… be a careful builder filled with God's love, who does God's will!
[00:49:30] The question we asked ourselves as we began this week's episode was - how do we ensure that our words and actions reflect the Spirit of God dwelling within us?
[00:49:44] And as we've seen in our readings, that is NOT always easy.
[00:49:51] It wasn't easy at the time these passages were first written… and in our modern world - with electronic communication and social media and news medias that are filling our heads with falsehoods… I don't care which side you're on; I don't care if you're on the right or the left or somewhere in the middle - anything you hear has to be compared to the Gospel. It just does!
[00:50:26] That means we MUST - not should - MUST open our hearts and minds to God… every day.
[00:50:37] We MUST - not should - MUST surrender ourselves to him.
[00:50:45] Because if we are to reflect God's Spirit, we must first be filled with God's Spirit… with love, forgiveness, acceptance, joy, self-control, faith, reverence, respect, courage, goodness, kindness, and gentleness.
[00:51:22] And if what we're espousing in the world doesn't contain those things… then our foundation is NOT built upon Jesus Christ - and WE are destroying God's temple.
[00:51:35] Which means we too WILL - not may - we WILL be destroyed. That alone should be frightening enough to stop the spread of hatred and division that is going on around the world.
[00:51:59] The really good news is that God is always willing to shower those good gifts upon us.
[00:52:11] All we need to do is ask and we will be filled with all the goodness we can handle and enough beyond that to flow outward to the world.
[00:52:27] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you - safe and secure - in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God bless.
