Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Donna Del Santo
Opening Prayer
Psalm 46 (From Psalms for Praying © 2007 Nan C. Merrill)
The Beloved is our refuge and our strength, a Loving Presence in times of trouble. Therefore, we need not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the Holy City, the holy habitation of the Most High. The Beloved is in the midst of it, it shall not be moved; Our loving Creator is an ever-present help. “Be still and know that I am Love. Awaken! Befriend justice and mercy; Do you not know you bear my Love? Who among you will respond?” O Blessed One, You know all hearts, You are ever with us; may Love ever guide our lives!
Reading
1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
Brothers and sisters: You are God's building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.
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.
Reflection
In 1 Corinthians, we read that we are God’s temple and that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in each of us. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. This feast points to the life that comes to the world through the communities which gather together in a church like St John Lateran and all our cathedrals and parish churches. This feast reinforces that it is not the building, which is the source of life, but the community which gathers together there.
So, in celebrating today’s feast, we are being called on to focus more on the kind of temple that we are than on the building, however important and beautiful it may be. In the beginning, there were no churches and people met in each other’s homes for the Eucharist. Church buildings became necessary because of growing numbers. In fact, if St John Lateran, St Peter’s and all the churches in the world were to collapse into ruins, the real Temple of God would continue—in us.
Closing Prayer
Loving God, You dwell not only in temples made by human hands but in the hearts of Your faithful people. As we celebrate the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, renew Your Church and make each of us a living stone in the temple of Christ's Body.
