This Sunday we are celebrating the solemnity of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.  The Lateran Basilica is the papal basilica and for many years was the residence of the Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father, before the Avignon years and the move of the residence to the Vatican hill, outside of the walls of Rome.  The Basilica of St. John Lateran was one of the first places of public worship after the Edict of Milan in 313 AD which halted the persecution of the Christian Church and established a freedom of religion in the Roman Empire. Over the years there have been fires and earthquakes that have damaged the Basilica but it has always been carefully rebuilt and is currently one of the four major Basilicas in Rome.

The celebration of this solemnity on Sunday gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the beauty and essential place of worship in our lives.  In remembering the Basilica of St. John Lateran we are not merely commemorating a building where people gather during worship but we are reflecting upon the Temple as historically the dwelling place of God among his people and now the place of encounter with the Paschal Mystery and Christ the High Priest.  For us as Christians, life flows out of the temple of God and even now we go to the house of God to receive the Bread of Life (Jn 6,35) and to hear the “words of eternal life” (Jn 6,68), to receive the sacraments, the Living Water (Jn 4,14) of baptism, and the new birth in the Spirit. (Jn 3,5ff)  In the house of God we worship God in Spirit and truth (Jn 4,23ff) and enter into and share life in the Spirit of God.

Our worship of God is meant to lift us up into a contemplation and share in the divine mysteries of heaven and eternal life.  Through our visible worship in the house of God on earth we begin to taste the fruits of the new tree of life, the cross of Christ, and are transported in the spirit of faith to share in the invisible liturgy of praise and worship that is continuously being offered before the throne of God in heaven.  Our worship is both human and divine, visible and invisible and helps us to realize that we as human persons, through the rebirth of baptism, are both human and divine and participate in both human and divine realities.  Our worship of the living God through the Paschal Mystery of Christ Jesus helps us to better know God as our Father in glory and grace and to know ourselves better as his adopted children created for “the praise of the glory of his grace that he lavished upon us.” (Eph 1,5f).

“I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.  He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” (Rev 21,3f)  God has drawn near to us in Jesus Christ, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” (Jn 14,9) and continues to dwell among us through the Spirit that manifests God’s presence in various ways through word and sacrament.  God has always desired to dwell with his people and to live in their midst as a source of life and grace.  In the Old Testament, God dwelt among his people in various ways through the cloud of his presence on the mountain and then in the Dwelling of the meeting tent.  Eventually, the Temple was constructed as the dwelling place of God.  In the first reading from Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47,1-12) we see a beautiful vision of life and grace flowing out of the Temple as a great river of healing, restoration and transformation.

In the New Testament, Jesus becomes the Dwelling place of God among his people (Jn 1,14) and eventually the Jerusalem Temple is destroyed and a new temple, the Risen Body of Christ, takes its place and is constructed in the hearts and lives of believers.  We are God’s building and dwelling place: “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.” (1Cor 3,16f)  Prophetic words given the recent discussion on “death with dignity” or physician assisted suicide.  In the gospel (Jn 2,13-22) we see how people have lost respect for the dwelling of God and have turned it into a marketplace rather than a place of prayer.  Perhaps we also make of the temple of our bodies a “marketplace” for transactions of material goods (wealth, pleasure, power) rather than a sacred and spiritual place of prayer, worship and sacrifice offered to the Father in the Spirit.

Our life is worship and we draw our life from our worship of God.  Worship is not something that we do occasionally in our life, perhaps on Sunday, out of fear and “just in case”, it is something that we are meant to live constantly as a sign of our love and devotion to the Holy Trinity.  Our worship of God expresses our conviction that he is the most valuable gift of our lives.  Our bodies are temples of God through the indwelling Spirit and we are meant to live worship, to live as a praise of God’s glory and “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” (Rom 12,1)  When we live in constant worship we live with one foot in heaven and our lives become a reflection of God’s glory.  When we offer worship to God, our hearts and minds and bodies all need to be caught up in the act of worship.  The most sublime and transporting experiences that I have had in life have been in the midst of worship.  When I am part of a congregation worshipping on Sunday, often people’s heads are turned because I sing and pray like I really mean it.  I do not just mumble and fumble along.  I believe when we worship God we need to worship like we believe it and be an active and fully participating part of the liturgy of worship, whether in profound silence or in joyous voice of praise.  I am thoroughly convinced that if you worship well, you will live well and there will be a river of God’s grace flowing out of your temple that will bring life to those around you.