November 9, 2025: John 2:12-22
Today we celebrate the feast day of the dedication of the cathedral of Rome. It is called the Cathedral of St John the Lateran. Last Monday we celebrated the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Cathedrals are the head churches of dioceses. The Military Archdiocese, however, is the only diocese I know of that has no cathedral because it has no church buildings.
In the Gospel, Jesus promised to raise his body from the dead on the third day. It had taken upwards of Forty-six years to build the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem: How could Jesus rebuild one in three days?
When Jesus rose from the dead, he did rebuild his body in three days. His body is the church. His body is not the church buildings we use for church services. His body is the people that make up the Church. In this sense, we rose with Christ when he rose from the dead. (We are always baptized into that moment of Christ’s resurrection. Every celebration of the sacraments brings us back to that moment when we rose with Christ.)
Consequently, the dedication of a building is a symbol of our dedication and incorporation into Christ at baptism. In the ritual for dedication of a Church, the structure is sprinkled abundantly with water, is anointed with the oil of chrism, and has the eucharist celebrated in it for the first time. In other words, the Church building receives the three sacraments of initiation, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist, when it is dedicated or consecrated. The ritual for the dedication of a Church building is meant to mimic how we become members of Christ’s body the Church.
As we recall the dedication of the important cathedral of Rome, let us recall the occasion when we were baptized. Perhaps we should be sharing this information with the other members of the family.