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Gospel: John 2: 13-22
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today’s sermon is on the Feast of the Dedication of Saint John Lateran, a church in Rome.
For the first three hundred years after the death and resurrection of Christ, Christians were forbidden to worship in public.
In fact, when they were found at Mass, which was celebrated either in homes or underground, many were killed on the spot.
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Finally, in the year 313 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, making it the official religion of the Empire.
He then built the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, allowing Christians to publicly profess their faith.
To this day, we can visit, pray, and worship in that church, which is the oldest church in the world, located in the very heart of Rome.
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The Basilica of Saint John Lateran symbolizes three important freedoms:
The freedom to possess a house of worship, the freedom to worship God in public, and the freedom to hand on our faith without the threat of violence.
We should pray for Christians in different parts of the world who, like the first Christians, do not have these freedoms; pray for them who risk their safety in order to worship God.
Equally, we should be grateful that these liberties remain intact here in America. As we heard in our responsorial Psalm today, “the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.”
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Image credits: (1) Catacombs at Saint Peter’s Altar, Salzburg (2) Saint John Lateran, Wikipedia (3) Saint John Lateran, Wikipedia