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November
9, 2003 - Sunday
DEDICATION OF ST. JOHN OF LATERAN
You
Are That Temple
Readings:
Ezk
47:1-2, 8-9, 12; Ps
46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; 1 Cor 3:9-11, 16-17; Jn
2:13-22
Commentaries
/ Gospel Reflections from:
Sunday's Into
Silence • Diario
Biblico • Daily Gospel
Note.
As this feast has no readings proper to it,
we may take from the common of the Dedication of Churches those best
fitted to the needs of one's actual community. As a feast of Our Lord
it replaces the Sunday in Ordinary Time with which it concurs.
Greeting
Know
that this place is holy
because the Lord is here among us.
Know that we ourselves are called to be holy
for we are God's temple.
May the Lord Jesus always stay with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
by the Celebrant
Before
there were church buildings there was the community of the Church, in
which Christ is alive. The early Christian communities were even proud
that, unlike pagans, they needed no temples to pray, for they could
honor God wherever they met. They knew that they were the living stones
with which the Christian community is built. This is why St Paul calls
us the People of God, God's building, God's holy temple. We are built
on Christ, our foundation. Our churches, then, are the outward sign
that we are a community in Christ and that he lives among us.
Penitential
Act
Let
us ask pardon from God and one another
for not being enough his holy people
among whom lives Jesus our Lord.
(PAUSE)
Lord, you call us together as your people
to give with you all honor and praise
to our Father in heaven:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus
Christ, you are the foundation
on which you build your community
of love and dedicated service:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord,
you are present among us
here in your holy place
and in your living community, your people:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have
mercy on us, Lord,
reconcile us with you and with one another
and stay among us, your people,
to lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening
Prayer
Let
us pray that we may truly be
the Church of Jesus Christ
(PAUSE)
God our Father,
you have called us through your Son
to be a community of faith, love and service
built on the only firm foundation,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Fill
us with his Spirit,
that we may be your Church in word and deed,
making no demands, seeking no privileges,
not trying to dominate and control.
Help
us to bring joy to all,
to love without excluding anyone
and to serve without demanding gratitude.
May we thus be the living house
filled with the presence of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Scripture
Readings
First
Reading: Ezk 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
I
saw water flowing from the temple,
and all who were touched by it were saved.
A
reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
The
man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple and I saw water coming
out from the threshold of the Temple and flowing eastwards. The Temple
faced the east and the water flowed from the south side of the Temple,
from the south side of the altar. He then brought me out through the
north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing the
east and there I saw the stream coming from the south side.
He
said to me, "This water goes to the east, down to the Arabah, and
when it flows into the sea of foul-smelling water, the water will become
wholesome. Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will live in
it; fish will be plentiful and the sea water will become fresh. Wherever
it flows, life will abound.
Near
the river on both banks there will be all kinds of fruit trees with
foliage that will not wither and fruit that will never fail; each month
they will bear a fresh crop because the water comes from the Temple.
The fruit will be good to eat and the leaves will be used for healing.
Responsorial
Psalm: Ps
46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R
(5) The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling
of the Most High!
God
is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore, we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling
of the Most High!
There
is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling
of the Most High!
The
Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the Lord,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling
of the Most High!
Second
Reading Introduction: You Are God's Building
The Christian community itself is the building
constructed in God's honor. Each of us is a living stone of it, with Christ
as our foundation. God lives in his community.
Second
Reading: 1 Cor 3:9-11, 16-17
We
are fellow-workers with God, but you are God's field and building.
I, as a good architect, according to the capacity given to me, I laid
the foundation, and another is to build upon it. Each one must be careful
how to build upon it. No one can lay a foundation other than the one
which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Do
you not know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit abides
within you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him.
God's temple is holy, and you are this temple.
Gospel
Introduction: Christ, The True Temple
Jesus cleans the Jewish temple. It
will be destroyed, for the true "house of God" where we will
meet God is Jesus Christ. Are we not the Church, his body?
Gospel
Reading: Jn 2:13-22
 As
the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In
the Temple court he found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves, and
money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove
them all out of the Temple court, together with the oxen and sheep.
He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins,
and ordered the people selling doves, "Take all this away and stop
turning my Father's house into a marketplace!"
His
disciples recalled the words of Scripture: Zeal for your House devours
me as a fire.
The
Jews then questioned Jesus, "Where are the miraculous signs which
give you the right to do this?" And Jesus said, "Destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then replied,
"The building of this temple has already taken forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?"
Actually, Jesus was referring to the temple of his body. Only when he
had risen from the dead did his disciples remember these words; then
they believed both the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.
Commentary
"I
have
nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in
a cruse, that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we
may eat it, and die." The great drought had brought famine to
the land. And the poor widow with her only son was left with their
last meal and yet she shared the little she had with the starving
prophet Elijah and for this act of generosity she was rewarded. As
a missionary in East Timor, I experienced the same generosity from
the poor. The family would give me the best food they could afford
even to the point of borrowing from neighbors. Poor farmers who could
not give money would bring vegetables, fruits and eggs for the missionaries.
And when the poor give something they don't expect anything in return.
For them giving and sharing is a joy and a reward in itself.
Read
also: • Gospel
Reflections by Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R. (for 32nd Sunday OT)
•
Biblical Commentaries fro Diario Biblico
General
Intercessions
Let
us pray to Jesus our Lord that his Christian community may be more aware
that they are the people and temple of God, and let us also pray for
the needs of all people and of all the world. Let us say: R/ Lord,
build community with us.
- That
in our Christian communities all may contribute time and effort toward
a better, more evangelical Church, let us pray: R/ Lord, build community
with us.
- That
our organizations in our dioceses and parishes may cooperate better
with one another so that by their teamwork and unity all the faithful
become more the one body of Christ, let us pray: R/ Lord, build community
with us.
- That
all our Christian Churches may work toward the unity to which they are
called by the Spirit of Jesus, the one Shepherd of all, let us pray:
R/ Lord, build community with us.
- That
the leaders of the world may seek peace in the world community and look
for common solutions for common problems, while respecting each others'
identity, rights and dignity, let us pray: R/ Lord, build community
with us.
- That
those living in security may welcome strangers and refugees, people
without a home or a country, and show them the warmth of hospitality,
let us pray: R/ Lord, build community with us.
- And
finally, that this community may always be aware that it is united in
faith and love, in hope and service with the pope and with the world-wide
Church, let us pray: R/ Lord, build community with us.
Lord
Jesus, you wanted to live among people. Make your Church more and more
the space where people can meet in your name, for your are our Lord
for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer
over the Gifts
Lord
our God,
we bring before you
these gifts of bread and wine
to remember that Jesus Christ is among us.
May he be to all of us
our way, our truth, our life.
And may he become alive among us
through his Holy Spirit,
not only in these signs and this place
but in the whole wide world,
in a renewed, living Church,
in a renewed, authentic Christianity,
where he is our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction
to the Eucharistic Prayer
Together
with Christ who is the foundation stone on which we are built as his
body, we offer to our Father the worship of this eucharist and of our
lives.
Introduction
to the Lord's Prayer
In
this house of prayer
let us pray to our Father in heaven
the prayer of trust of his Son Jesus: R/ Our Father...
Introduction
to the Rites of Peace and the Breaking of Bread
In
the Christian community and in life
we are on the way with one another,
we seek peace and long for happiness.
Here in this house of prayer
the Lord Jesus breaks the bread of life for us.
Let us also break bread for one another
and pray for the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
The peace of the Lord be with you always. R/ And also with you.
Invitation
to Communion
This
is the body of Jesus the Lord.
He gives himself to us
that we may become more
his body of the Church. R/ Lord, 1 am not worthy...
Prayer
after Communion
Lord
our God,
you have filled this house and us
with the presence of your Son;
he has spoken his Word to us,
he has shared himself with us
as our food on the road of life.
May we now be your sign to the world
that your Son is alive among us.
May our search and concern for justice,
for human dignity,
for love, integrity and unity
give praise to you and proclaim to all
that we are your people
and that Jesus Christ is our Lord,
now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
It
is not so much the building that counts
to honor and worship God
but Christ whom we meet here
and whose body we are.
And in us, in that body of Christ,
people should recognize the Lord
and feel his presence.
May this really become true in us,
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go
in peace, and be the sign
that Christ is alive in the world of today. R/ Thanks be to God.
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