With Opened Bible
Basilica of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
Today, we celebrate the Dedication of the Basilica of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. This basilica is one of the four major basilicas in the Catholic Church. It is the episcopal seat of the Pope, as Bishop of Rome. In other words, it is the Pope's cathedral. Dedication is a spiritual way of saying that a place or activity has been dedicated to the service of God and His People. This term is found in the Bible, according to 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5-7. Solomon, King of Israel, dedicated the Temple for the service of God. Therefore, the Church relies on the Scriptures to dedicate places, such as churches, basilicas, and cathedrals, so that God may be celebrated and served. And it is because of this dedication or consecration that the Gospel of Saint John brings us back in real time to this episode of Jesus driving the sellers from the Temple.
In all truth, the sellers had their place in the Temple. Their presence helped those who came from far away to offer their offerings to the Lord. However, the animal trade and the exchange of money have taken up too much space. In the Temple dedicated to the Lord, the only priority is His praise. "Take these out of here and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace." (John 2) Jesus' reaction aligns with this spirituality of respect for the place of worship. However, by saying to destroy the Temple and that he will rebuild it in three days, Jesus refers us to a greater reality: the Temple of our Bodies.
Through baptism, the Spirit has consecrated us, dedicated us so that God may be praised and served through our mortal bodies. The second reading describes it gracefully: "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? If anyone destroys God's Temple, God will destroy that person; for the Temple of God, which you are, is holy." (1 Corinthians 3:9-17) The Body of Jesus is the mystical Temple that was destroyed by our sins on the cross and rebuilt by the grace of the Spirit at the resurrection. Jesus is the True Temple, and we are the stones that form it. "Therefore, glorify God in our body," (1 Corinthians 6:20)
