A Homily – The Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year) C

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

 

First Reading – Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12

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

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 3:9-11,16-17

Gospel Acclamation – 2 Corinthians 7:16

The Gospel according to John 2:13-22

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

Temples and altars, rituals and magic, these are unimportant places and things innate significance, these conniving gestures all belong to the empty set, the rooted in deception, prevarication and lies.

Know this.

The psalmist is wrong; God does not intervene in human affairs. We know this is true because we know that God made us free, every human being, every sentient creature everywhere…the entire creation is free from divine coercion.

God is not a king a lord; only kings and lords want you to see God this way. God neither seeks nor desires exaltation, only those who want a share in that exaltation do.

Consider the work of the apostle, he makes a clever argument to establish his own authority by claiming that his ministry is grounded in the same work that Jesus of Nazareth had undertaken…and was executed for.

His argument is clever but circular, it is also invalid and should ultimately be considered unnecessary…insofar as his work should speak for itself

Understand this.

The living God dwells within the living you, the living I, the living we; God dwells in all people, in all things and beings, at all times and in all places.

God dwells in you and I, God dwells in the hearts of our enemies (whoever they might be), and wherever God is present, God is present fully; God is fully present everywhere.

Be mindful.

Trust is the essence of faith.

Consider the gospel reading for the day and see how it moves the reader in different directions.

The writers of the gospel present a mix of motivations; on the one hand they wanted to express the understanding that the death and resurrection of Jesus was known  to him, foretold by him and in keeping with God’s plan; on the other hand they wanted to speak to some specific issues of social corruption that were present in their day and affecting the life of their community. In order to fulfill these various motivations, they distanced Jesus and the disciples, and thereby burgeoning Christian movement from the pharisaic Judaism in which it had formed.

In this regard the Gospel for today is a piece of propaganda. It was unnecessary for the gospel writers to make any comment concerning the “Jewish Passover, unless they were writing to people who were not themselves Jewish as well as to those who wanted to separate the movement from its Jewish origins.

Let us be clear, Jess was a Jew, and the Passover to him and his disciples was simply the Passover.

Nevertheless, the commentary about corruption in the temple was not without merit, and remains a matter of deep concerns in whatever passes for a temple, in all religions, everywhere. There was corruption in the priesthood, there had always been corruption in the priesthood, both before the time of Jesus and after…it seems as if this will never change, at least so long as sin and corruption remain a human problem.

Understand this on the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the organization of religion is as much a matter of commerce as it is of spirituality, perhaps more. The just criticism of the Jewish Temple in Jesus’ day, made by his followers more than a hundred years after his death is more likely a criticism of corruption in the Jewish synagogues, which they themselves experienced in their own day, and that this criticism should be applied equally to the entire community of believers, in all times, in all places, in all faith traditions...there is always corruption, because we ourselves are corrupt.

First Reading – Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12

Wherever the Water Flows, it Will Bring Life and Health

The angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side. He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.’

 

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

God, our refuge and our strength

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

The Lord is our refuge and our strength,

  a true help in our troubles.

Therefore we do not fear,

  even when the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the depths of the sea,

the waves roar and foam

  and rise up to shake the mountains.

The streams of the river give joy to the city of God,

  the holy dwelling-place of the Most High.

God is within it, it will not be shaken;

  God will give help as the day dawns.

The nations are in turmoil and kingdoms totter:

  at the sound of his voice, the earth flows like water.

The Lord of strength is with us,

  the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come and see the works of the Lord,

  who has done wonders on the earth.

He puts an end to wars over all the world:

  he tramples the bow, shatters weapons, and burns the shields with fire.

Stop and see that I am God:

  I will be exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.

The Lord of strength is with us,

  the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Amen.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

 

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 3:9-11,16-17

The Temple of God is Sacred, and You Are That Temple

You are God’s building. By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and laid the foundations, on which someone else is doing the building. Everyone doing the building must work carefully. For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ.

  Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple.

 

Gospel Acclamation – 2 Corinthians 7:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

I have chosen and consecrated this house, says the Lord, for my name to be there forever.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel according to John 2:13-22

Destroy this Sanctuary and in Three Days I Will Raise It Up

Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’ Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for your house will devour me. The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary: are you going to raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said.

 

A Homily – The Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica