Scripture Reflection, November 9: Called to be Church

Scripture Readings:
Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12
Psalm 46
I Corinthians 3: 9-11, 16-17
John 2: 13-22

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“I’m spiritual, but not religious.” That statement is made by many people today when they are questioned about their faith and spiritual practices. Researchers report that many younger people give that response. However, this viewpoint is not limited to the young; people of all ages report that they have some interest in “spirituality” but little time for “religion.” Some seem to identify the “religious” with institutions that they do not trust. Others think that spiritual growth should be pursued on an individual basis, free from external regulations and worn-out traditions. To be “spiritual” but not “religious” is a popular stance in a society that is very focused on the needs and the rights of the individual.

Consider, however, what took place in our nation this past week. People of all political persuasions and walks of life came together to vote for the leadership of our country. Even though each person entered the voting booth as an individual, this was actually a very communal exercise. And whatever our political preference may have been, the scene at Grant Park in downtown Chicago on Tuesday evening was suffused with a sense of corporate solidarity. The sea of faces in that crowd reflected the rich diversity of our nation but it also revealed a deep desire for greater cooperation in moving ahead to meet the challenges that confront our nation and our world. We are not simply a nation of 300 million separate individuals.

The feast that we celebrate this Sunday may strike us at first as a bit odd. It is the celebration of the dedication of the church of Saint John Lateran in Rome. This basilica was first built in the fourth century on land donated by Constantine. It has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times during the centuries. Saint John Lateran is the pope’s cathedral church in his office as the bishop of Rome. In a sense it is the parish church of the pope and, therefore, the parish church of every Catholic Christian. This celebration invites us to reflect upon our vocation to be Church in the world.

In an address to bishops in Latin America last year, Pope Benedict XVI posed the question, “What does faith in the God of Jesus Christ give us?” In an attempt to answer his own question, Benedict said this: “The first response is: it gives us a family, the universal family of God in the Catholic Church. Faith releases us from the isolation of the ‘I’, because it leads us to communion: the encounter with God is, in itself and as such, an encounter with our brothers and sisters, an act of convocation, of unification, of responsibility towards the other and towards others.”

These words of Benedict bring us to the heart of this Sunday’s celebration. None of us is meant to be an “isolated I” in any dimension of our lives. In a culture that extols individualism, it is easy to become such an isolated person. But each of us is called to communion – communion with God and with one another. As Catholics we believe that we need one another in order to grow spiritually. We need the presence, the support, and the prayer of one another in order to live as disciples of Jesus. We are called to become a family of faith. Your presence at the Eucharistic celebration on Sunday strengthens my faith, even if I never sit down and talk to you about my faith. And our spiritual and material support of one another in reaching out to those in need is essential for the success of the mission of the Church.

The Scripture readings for this celebration feature the imagery of the temple. Jesus journeys to Jerusalem and, in a strong and provocative gesture, drives out of the temple those who have commercialized it. With passion he exclaims, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
The prophet Ezekiel writes as an exile in Babylon, far away from his beloved Jerusalem, where the temple has been destroyed. He envisions an ideal Jerusalem with a rebuilt temple. He imagines this as a place where waters of life will stream out, yielding abundant vegetation which brings nourishment and healing to a broken people. The temple of God is meant to be a life-giving and life-sustaining place. Saint Paul puts another spin on this temple motif when he tells the Christians at Corinth, “You are God’s building. . . . Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” The community of Christians, filled with the Spirit of God, is the new temple of God and these believers are meant to be a life-giving and life-sustaining force in the world.

On this Sunday each of us is invited to reflect on what it means to belong to a community of faith. In this community we receive the priceless gifts of our Christian tradition, the sacraments, shared prayer, and personal support in our efforts to be disciples of Jesus. With these gifts, each of us also has a responsibility to strengthen and build up this community through active, generous commitment. We might ask ourselves an important question: What am I doing to make the Church a more vital community of faith, a more life-giving temple of God?

In the Preface for this liturgy, the priest is invited to pray these words: “Father… your house is a house of prayer, and your presence makes it a place of blessing. You give us grace upon grace to build the temple of your Spirit, creating its beauty from the holiness of our lives.” Indeed, God does create the beauty of the Church from the faith and the gifts of each one of us. May we re-dedicate ourselves to build up the temple of God’s Spirit – to make the Church a more beautiful and life-giving community of faith through our own active and generous commitment.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp