My Dear Brethren,
St John Lateran Church was one of the buildings that was a gift to the Church during the time of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor.
It is one of the four big Basilicas in the Vatican. It is known as Pope's Church because that it was the place where the Pope would be inaugurated.
These buildings are large not necessarily to accommodate the number of people but to magnify God's glory. It would echo the Blessed Mother's prayer: My soul magnifies The Lord.
One cannot help but feel small when standing in the four basilicas. I remember when I was there for the Canonization of St Kateri. As a concelebrant I was able to receive the precious blood from the Altar. And standing at the Altar, underneath the Baldichino, looking out to the sea of people, I saw how small I am compared to the largeness of God.
Today John tells us about Christ cleansing a building, not just any, but the Temple of Jerusalem. It was a place for the Jewish people for one purpose: to magnify God's glory.
But the people made it into a marketplace, rather than for the primary purpose which is for God's glory.
Christ overturned the tables of the money changers. The zeal will consume him which is his death on the cross. He purifies the temple and reminds people of the original purpose.
At the beginning of Chapter 2 of John, he tells us that it happened on a third day. That is reference to his death on the Holy Cross and his rising after three days. The temple Christ refers to is the temple of his body.
Let the The Blessed Mother's prayer echo in our hearts. The soul's purpose is to accommodate people, but to magnify the Glory of God. Amen.
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