From a certain perspective, today’s feast—the dedication of an ancient church in Rome, albeit the cathedral of the Pope—might seem rather odd, especially on a Sunday. Yet remembering the dedication of this church building offers us an opportunity to ponder our own calling and vocation as a Church.
We are, as Paul says, God’s building, built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and made into the temple of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If the building of the Lateran Basilica—or of the churches where we gather as the Body of Christ to celebrate the Eucharist—is a place consecrated and set aside for prayer and worship, then we too, as God’s holy people, are set aside for the same purpose. We are to be, as today’s Psalm says, the holy dwelling of the Most High upon earth, witnessing to the astounding things he has wrought on earth through our testimony of word and life.
In us, as the Church, the prophecy of Ezekiel in the first reading is to be fulfilled: Ezekiel saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple, making the salt waters fresh and giving life to fruit trees of every kind. So God desires that the Church, his temple, should be a source of grace and life for all peoples on earth.
Today, let us pray that all of us in the Church may live in accord with this lofty vocation, not placing obstacles to the flow of God’s grace in the world but instead living as conduits of his love and mercy for all.