20251109 CHURCH AS A LIFE-GIVING AND TRANSFORMING COMMUNITY
09 November 2025, Sunday, Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
First reading |
Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12 |
Wherever the water flows, it will bring life and health
The angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side. He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 45(46):2-3,5-6,8-9 |
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in time of distress,
so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,
though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within, it cannot be shaken;
God will help it at the dawning of the day.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
The Lord of hosts is with us:
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come, consider the works of the Lord,
the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
Second reading |
1 Corinthians 3:9-11,16-17 |
The temple of God is sacred, and you are that temple
You are God’s building. By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and laid the foundations, on which someone else is doing the building. Everyone doing the building must work carefully. For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ.
Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple.
Gospel Acclamation | 2Ch7:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I have chosen and consecrated this house, says the Lord,
for my name to be there forever.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 2:13-22 |
Destroy this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up
Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’ Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for your house will devour me. The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary: are you going to raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said.
CHURCH AS A LIFE-GIVING AND TRANSFORMING COMMUNITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZ 47:1-2,8-9,12; 1 COR 3:9-11,16-17; JN 2:13-22 ]
St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome is the mother Church of all Catholics in the world. It is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. For this reason, this feast is celebrated universally, as we are all connected to the mother Church. All of us are, in some way, derived from and linked to the mother Church in Rome. It is to Rome that we look for direction and inspiration. The mother Church serves as our model for how we build our local churches. It is also a symbol of the unity of the Church.
In celebrating the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica, we are commemorating more than just a building. The Church is not merely a building but the gathering of the People of God. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “You are God’s building. Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you?” We make the Church. As St. Peter said, “Like living stones, be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Today, we celebrate our identity as a community of Christians. We are called to witness to Jesus, who is our life-giver and healer, by being life-givers and healers to humanity. Indeed, this is what the world most urgently needs today, as many live on the brink of despair. Because of atheism and materialism, many no longer know who they are, their purpose in life, or their ultimate destiny. The world fears death above all. As the Church, we are called to make ourselves present in the world.
Firstly, we are called to be life-giving, like a mother to all. The Church is called “Mother” because, like a mother, she gives birth to new children of God in the Sacrament of Baptism. She nurtures these children through the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation. She teaches and instructs her children in the Word of God and guides them in the Gospel way of life. She gives hope to those who are hopeless and find life meaningless. She comforts those who feel abandoned and provides encouragement and consolation. We, too, are called to bring new converts to the Church through our witness so that new life can be given to them.
This is the vision Ezekiel gives us in the first reading regarding the Temple of Jerusalem. The river that flows from the Temple brings life wherever it flows: “Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.” The Church is called to be life-giving, even to the hopeless and those who are spiritually dead. “This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea, it makes its waters wholesome.” Arabah is the hollow depression through which the Jordan River flows from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The prophet assures us that God can give life even to the dead. This is the Church’s task: to give life to all, even those dead in sin, and ultimately eternal life. We are called to reach out to those who have lost hope in life and humanity.
To do this, we must first strengthen our own faith and celebrate the sacraments in our lives. Otherwise, we cannot give what we have not got. Being sent out presupposes that we have rediscovered our sonship in Christ and, most importantly, have been inserted into the Body of Christ more and more over the years through worship, participation in the life of the community, making new friends, and journeying with the rest of the community. Otherwise, we will not be ready to be a “mother” to new converts unless we have been good children of the Church.
To build the House of God, we must be like Jesus–inclusive and welcoming of the poor, the sinners, and the marginalised. He loves the poor and the suffering. Jesus clearly came for the sick, not for the healthy (cf. Mk 2:17). He puts people before institutions. He breaks laws if necessary for the greater good of the people. In fact, His ministry was mostly carried out outside the synagogues and the Temple. His Church is wherever people are lost, like sheep without a shepherd — harassed, wounded, and neglected (cf. Mt 9:36). Jesus offered His entire being — body and soul — for the service of His Father and us, dying for us. He allowed His Temple to be destroyed so that He could raise it on the third day. He gives us life and hope by giving up His life for us in love, even unto death. Only this kind of service is truly life-giving. All of us are called to imitate Jesus in humble service, giving ourselves completely for the good of others. This is what a life-giving Church is all about.
The question we are called to reflect on is this: whether we are truly life-giving in our community today. Or do we come to church and regard it merely as a cold, unwelcoming, legalistic institution, more like a dispensing machine than one that radiates a personal, warm, caring, and hospitable community? Many people complain that our churches are run like military institutions, adhering rigidly to rules, legalistic, and business-like in dealing with parishioners. The Church is seen not as a mother providing refuge and comfort but more as an organisation offering services, often for a fee. Many are discouraged by the calculative approach of churches toward parishioners and some are scandalised by the behaviour of church volunteers and workers, who can be rude, insensitive, authoritative, and indifferent to the needs of those seeking help or assistance.
Beyond ambience and welcoming, the Church is a mother that provides spiritual nourishment and helps people grow spiritually and in knowledge of the faith. Most of us attend only Sunday Mass for an hour a week. That is all the time we give to God. Even then, we often arrive late and are distracted. We are not always disposed to pray devoutly or pay attention to the homily. Of course, the presider has an important role to play in the worship, but sometimes homilies are poorly prepared or inaudible. Our churches need to go beyond the celebration of the Eucharist and the Sacraments; we must provide ongoing formation in all aspects of spiritual life, whether it is prayer, doctrine, morals, personal growth, or as a community.
Our activities and programs must be rooted in Jesus and the Gospel. Unless we are people of prayer — deeply connected with the Lord daily, meditating on the Word of God, studying the Bible and doctrine, sharing the Word in our cell groups, and participating in community fellowship — we cannot build the House of God. Catholics often tend to be very active in church ministry — doing many projects, seemingly for God’s glory, but we do not build the church in Christ and with the help of Christ. We do not pray, discern and intercede for the projects we undertake. Secular and corporate knowledge alone without a Christian perspective and rooted in the compassion of our Lord is insufficient for truly building the Church. A lack of prayer leads to division, resentment, and infighting among leaders and members.
How can we renew and restore the Church to become a true Temple of God? St. Paul advises, “For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ.” Christ must be our cornerstone. St. Peter likewise wrote, “Come to Him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious” (1 Pt 2:4). It is to Jesus that we must all turn.
Most importantly, we must be involved in the life of the community. Many come to church only to receive and be served, forgetting that the Church is a volunteer-driven community. We all need to contribute, not just financially or in ministry, but in growing together as a community in faith and love. Being Church is more than worship; it is living out discipleship through love and charity. Jesus came to cleanse the Temple of empty ritual. “Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple — cattle and sheep — as well as scattered the money-changers’ coins, knocked over their tables, and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.'”
Today, Jesus wants to cleanse His Church as well! We have degenerated from a House of God to a house of thieves. We are not interested in serving and caring for people, especially the poor, the troubled, and those in need of consolation, healing, prayer, and encouragement. No matter how great our structures, if the lives of our people are not moved and drawn closer to God through edifying worship and personal care, we fail as a life-giving Church. If we fail to give life, we are no better than the Jews whom the Lord condemned in the Gospel. The Temple, instead of being a place of worship and encounter with God, became a marketplace or merely a place to socialise rather than to evangelise. It was no longer a place where people could truly worship Him and be connected with Him; instead, it became a place for performing rituals, while the hearts of the people were far from God.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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