MONDAY, THIRTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA IN ROME
Ez 47:1-2,8-9,12 / 1 Cor 3:9-11,16-17; Ps 46:2-3,5-6,8-9; Jn 2:13-22
MAKE MY HEART YOUR DWELLING PLACE
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the cathedral church of Rome and the mother church of the churches of the world. The Gospel takes us to the Gospel account where Jesus cleanses the Temple. At first, his action may seem like an expression of anger. But it reveals something deeper: Jesus’ great love for his Father and his desire to restore the true meaning of worship. The Temple was meant to be a holy place where people could pray and encounter God. People came from distant places to offer sacrifices, so buying animals and exchanging money were necessary services. But gradually, what had begun as a service became a business. The problem was even greater because the buying and selling took place in the Court of the Gentiles. This was the place where people from other nations could come and seek the true God. Instead of finding a peaceful place for prayer, they found a marketplace. Jesus reminds them of Isaiah’s words: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Is 56:7). By driving away the merchants from the temple Jesus reminds the people that God must always remain at the centre of their lives.
The Gospel also invites us to look into our own hearts. St Paul says, “You are God’s temple” (1 Cor 3:16). Our hearts can also become crowded with worries, ambition, money, anger, pride, distractions and the desire for recognition. Sometimes God has not left us; rather, we have filled his space with too many other things. Jesus wants to cleanse our hearts, not to condemn us, but to renew us. His zeal comes from love. He wants our hearts to become places of prayer, peace and communion with God.
On this feast, let us not only admire the beauty of our churches. Let us also ask: What needs to be removed from my heart so that God can have the first place? May Christ cleanse and renew us, so that our lives truly become a dwelling place for God.
Response: The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,
the holy place, the dwelling of the Most High.
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