Feast of the Dedication
of Saint John Lateran Basilica
November 9, 2015 8:30am
As I said at
the beginning of Mass, today we celebrate a church building – Saint John
Lateran Basilica in Rome.
So our second reading that the
Church selects for today interests me.
Paul speaks of us, of our bodies,
as a building – a temple.
He says: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God?
“The temple of God, which you are, is holy.”
So our body is a temple of God.
It is created by God and is
sacred.
A conclusion I see to this is
that we need to treat our body with respect and be good stewards of it – taking
appropriate care of it and not abusing it.
So, I am seeing a number of
issues for us to be aware of and think about.
Do we eat appropriately and not
overeat?
Do we try to keep our weight at
an appropriate level?
Do we eat nutritious food and
limit junk food?
If we drink alcohol, do we drink
too much?
Do we smoke cigarettes or cigars
or whatever? Have we tried to stop?
Do we have an issue with
substance abuse – with alcohol or drugs?
Do we exercise? Do we exercise regularly?
Do we live chastely, in keeping
with our vocation and state of life?
Do we respect our bodies by
dressing well, appropriately and modestly?
Do we respect the bodies of
others in our thoughts and words and actions?
Do we show respect for the bodies
or cremated remains of those who have died?
So, Saint Paul’s statement and
our belief that the human body is a temple, a temple of the Holy Spirit – that
leads me to these thought on this day in honor of a Christian temple, Saint
John Lateran Church.
___________________
St. John Lateran Church. 1st
church erected here by Emperor Constantine in 4th century. On land
owned by Laterani family. Dedicated to St. John the Baptizer and Evangelist. Rebuilt
in 1500s. Called St. John Lateran. Is
cathedral church of Archdiocese of Rome. Pope is bishop of Rome, so is Pope’s
cathedral. Celebrate its dedication as a sign of unity with Holy Father and
rest of Church.
