John 2:13-22

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12

Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9

1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17

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.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, cleanse your Temple and fill it with your Spirit. Wash me in the Blood of your Son and purify my soul. May my prayer arise to you like incense. And may my sacrifice united to that of your Son be pleasing to you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Ezekiel and the Vision of the New Temple: The Lateran Basilica is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. The yearly remembrance of its dedication in the fourth century A.D. by Pope Sylvester is a sign of union with the See of Peter. The readings chosen for today invite us to contemplate the mystery of the Temple. The First Reading is taken from the prophet Ezekiel, who, at the end of his book, dedicated several chapters to the vision of the restored People of God gathered around a New Temple. In particular, Ezekiel sees a supernatural river of water flowing from the New Temple. This prophecy and vision look back to the four rivers that flowed out of the original Garden of Eden. In fact, the spring in Jerusalem was named the “Gihon,” after one of the four rivers. But Ezekiel’s vision also looks to the future and is fulfilled in the “Church, which is the true Temple from which the Holy Spirit flows forth as a life-giving river under the signs of the sacraments” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Ezekiel, 76).

2. Jesus as the New Temple: The Gospel of John points to the Body of Jesus as the true Temple of God. After Jesus died on the cross, the lance opened up his side to reveal a river of blood and water. “The flow of blood and water calls to mind the drain from the Temple that flowed with the blood of the sacrifices and water of purification during Passover and other festivals. It also points to the Holy Spirit (John 7:39), who flows like a river from the sacrifice of Christ. Yet the Spirit comes to us through baptismal water and Eucharistic blood” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Ezekiel, 76). The Sacraments of the Church give us true life and bring us into the New Eden: “Eden contained the Tree of Life, and we have restored access to it. The Tree of Life bore fruit from which one could eat and not die. We now have a food to eat which grants immortality, and that is the Eucharistic Flesh and Blood of Christ. Eden also had a river that brought life to the rest of the world; this is the baptismal font, which regenerates the spiritual dead and makes them into children of God” (Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Solemnities and Feasts, 407). 

3. Being Holy Temples of God: Like other letters, Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians proclaims that we are Temples of God. Paul saw himself as a wise architect and spiritual Solomon. Just as Solomon oversaw the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, Paul is guiding the Christians in Corinth as they are built up into Temples of God. When Paul wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians in A.D. 56, the Temple of the Old Covenant was still standing in Jerusalem, but it would one day be destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans and replaced by the living body of Christ in the New Covenant. Paul viewed the mystery of the New Temple in three dimensions: “the body of every individual Christian is a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19), the body of every local Church is a temple (1 Corinthians 3:17), and the body of the universal Church is a temple (Ephesians 2:19-22)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 289). We are exhorted today by Paul to live out the holiness proper to God’s Temple. The Spirit dwells within us and sanctifies us.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, sanctify my heart with your Spirit. Abide in me and guide all my actions. I want everyone I encounter today to experience your holy presence.

Living the Word of God: Do I see myself as a Temple of God? How can my actions better conform to this mystery? Do I treat others with respect as holy Temples of God, where the Spirit of God dwells?