9 tháng 11-Suy Niệm Lễ Cung Hiến Nhà thờ Laternô ở Rome. Ez. 47:1-2,8-9,12 ; Jn. 2:13-22)
Hôm nay chúng ta mừng ngày lễ cống hiến của Vương Cung Thánh Đường Thánh Gioan Lateranô (*), Vương cung Thánh đường là Đền thánh lâu đời nhất và là một trong những Vương cung Thánh đường quan trọng nhất của Công giáo ở Rome. Trong thế kỷ thứ tư, hoàng đế Constantine, là hoàng đế Kitô giáo đầu tiên thuộc
đế quốc Lamã xây dựng. Trong suốt nhiều thế kỷ, nhà thờ đã bị
phá hủy, xây lại, mở
rộng và tu bổ nhiều lần. Nhưng Đền thờ luôn luôn được công nhận là nhà
thờ chính toà của Giáo phận Roma hay nhà thờ của các giám mục Rôma (đức Giáo Hoàng là Giám Mục của Roma). Thánh Đường này được gọi là ‘Mater Ecclesiae Romae Urbis et Orbis’, Mẹ của
tất cả các thánh đường ở Rôma và trên thế giới. Một trong những tính năng nổi
bật nhất của Vương Cung Thánh Đường Thánh Gioan Laterano là dòng chữ được tìm thấy khắc trong đền rửa tội của nhà thờ như sau: ". Đây
là nguồn mạch sự sống, nhờ
đấy mà toàn thế giới được thanh tẩy, qua chính những vết thương trong
cuộc khổ nạn của Chúa Kitô" Đó là một lời nhắc nhở hết sức mạnh mẽ cho Giáo Hội tồn tại để thực hiện các công việc của Chúa Kitô trong thế giới này.
(*) Nên biết rằng đây là đền thờ
kính Thánh Gian Tông Đồ chứ không Gioan Lateranô, theo truyền thuyết, Đền thờ
này được xây trên trong thửa đất của gia đình ông Lateranô, nên có tên như
thế. Chứ trong lịch sử Giáo hội không có vị thánh nào tên Gioan Lateranô.
REFLECTION
Today we celebrate the dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica, the oldest
and one of the most important Christian basilicas in Rome. In the fourth
century A.D., Constantine, who was the first Christian Emperor, built a chapel
on land that was given to his wife. Throughout the centuries, that chapel has
been destroyed, rebuilt, expanded, and renovated numerous times. But it has
always been recognized as the cathedral church of the bishop of Rome.
One
of the most striking features of the St. John Lateran Basilica is an
inscription found in the basilica's baptistery which says: "This is the
fountain of life, which cleanses the whole world, taking its course from the
wounds of Christ." It is a powerful reminder that the Church exists to
carry on the work of Christ in the world.
In
the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel saw healing water flowing from the
Temple and going out in all directions. In one sense, that is us. We are the
temples of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus wants to fill us to over flowing. In
order to bring Christ to the world, however, we must plunge deeply into the
fountain of life ourselves. Personal prayer, the gift of the sacraments, the
wisdom of Scripture, the love of our brothers and sisters in Christ, all of
these are their own founts of life for us. If Constantine, the most powerful
man in the western world at that time, could be converted through the witness
of Christians, imagine what our witnessing could do for our neighbors, friends,
and co-workers. If we immerse ourselves in Christ, we really can change the
world.
Thursday- Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in
Rome - John 2:13-22
Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I desire to hear your word with an
open heart and mind. May it bear the fruit in my soul that you desire. Please
increase my faith to see with your eyes, my charity to love with your heart,
and my hope to await your action with confidence.
Encountering Christ:
Zeal for the Temple: Throughout his life Jesus displayed a singular
connection with and love for the temple. Shortly after his birth, Mary and
Joseph presented him in the temple, when, moved by the Spirit, Simeon and Anna
prophesied about the child (Luke 2:22-38). Jesus would go annually to the
temple with his parents for Passover, and when he was twelve, he remained there
three days without his parents’ knowledge to show that he must “be about his
Father’s business” (CCC 583). During his public ministry, and especially
leading up to his Passion, some of his more significant encounters and
discourses were in the temple—such as his defense of the woman caught in
adultery (John 8:1-11), his “light of the world” discourse (John 8:12), and his
healing of the blind man (John 9:1-41). However, most dramatic was when Jesus
drove out the money-changers, the animals, and their handlers from the temple
with a whip. “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a
marketplace.” He would never cease to defend the honor of his Father’s house
with zeal.
Worship in Spirit
and Truth: While his love for
the temple was clear, in his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well
Jesus also said, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… But… when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to
worship him” (John 4:21-23). In this way Jesus not only prophesied about the
destruction of the temple but showed that the worship of God would no longer be
limited to a particular location. He was teaching that it would be more
important to worship united to God in spirit and in truth. Are our parishes and
churches therefore irrelevant? No, they remain crucial as places of gathering
for the Eucharistic celebration. Jesus is simply emphasizing that our encounter
with God must also resonate within our interior—both in church and outside of
it.
The Temple of His
Body: “Jesus answered and said
to them, ‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’” The
temple of the old covenant has been superseded by the new—the Body of Christ.
If the presence of God was real in the temple of Jerusalem, how much more so in
the Incarnation of his eternal Son. “He who has seen me has seen the Father”
(John 14:9). “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). However, this new temple
extends not simply to Jesus’ risen Body, but by extension to his Church: “Christ
‘is the head of the body, the Church… Head and members form as it were one and
the same mystical person” (CCC 792, 795). It is hard to fathom the degree to
which we are called to union with Our Lord in the Church: “As the Father has
loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love” (John 15:9).
Conversing with
Christ: Jesus, I believe that
the deepest desire of my heart is to be known and loved for who I am. I marvel
at how your gift of a profound unity with you in your mystical body the Church
responds to that desire. Help me to live such a union with you and my fellow
believers conscientiously and generously. Help me to have the same zeal for
your Church that you showed for your Father’s house. May I continue to defend
and promote the Church by my words and actions.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will say a prayer for the
Church, and if possible, make a brief visit to you in the tabernacle.
Nov 9, Feast of the Dedication of the
Lateran
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, increase my faith. Make my heart a temple for
your dwelling place.
The Passover: The Passover is one of the most important festivities
celebrated in the Jewish tradition. Before the existence of the Temple in
Jerusalem, it was primarily celebrated in homes by the sacrifice and smearing
of the blood of a lamb on the doorposts and lintels. Following the reign of the
wicked King Ahaz, his son (and descendant of David) Hezekiah, at the age of
twenty-five, sought a reform. He ordered the cleansing of the Temple and
restoration of worship after a period of falling away from God (2 Chronicles 29-35).
With this act, the Passover sacrifice became a central act in the Temple
(around 715 B.C). About one hundred years later, due to the Babylonian exile,
the Passover returned to being celebrated in the home, together with the Feast
of Unleavened Bread. By Jesus’ time, the two were celebrated together, with the
sacrifice of the lamb taking place primarily in the Temple but also in homes
due to the exorbitant number of lambs being slaughtered. Jesus “went up to
Jerusalem” precisely for this feast, in anticipation of the true sacrifice of
the Lamb of God and the institution of the Eucharistic—the offering of his own
Body and Blood on the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
My Father’s House: Jesus arrived at the Temple only to discover that his
Father’s house had been turned into a marketplace. The secular had encroached
upon the sacred. It is a perennial problem. Rather than sacralizing the
secular, the secular dominates the primary role of the sacred due to our human
tendencies toward personal gain and greed. The Temple’s central purpose,
worship of God, was cast aside for social and economic gains. See Jesus’
response—righteous anger fueled by zeal for reestablishing the Father’s rightful
place. He would soon be consummated in the sacrifice of himself as the Lamb of
God who takes away the sins of the world. The Temple represents the human
heart. Jesus desires to cleanse the idols in our hearts that stand at the
center in place of the Father.
Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will reflect on how I
contribute to making my heart, home, and Church community places of true
worship.
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