Behold the martyrs

The Sundays of November this year include some significant observances. After celebrating All Souls last Sunday, the church now celebrates the dedication of the oldest of the four major papal basilicas in Rome, St. John Lateran. In its first centuries, Christianity experienced periods of persecution and martyrdom. Then in 313, the emperor Constantine proclaimed the Edict of Milan, a decree that granted religious tolerance for Christians living in the Roman Empire. A little over a decade later, in 324, the Lateran Basilica was consecrated. When this basilica became the first public space for Christians to gather in worship, it served as a monument to the years of persecution and lack of tolerance that preceded. This Sunday’s readings may be read in that metaphorical light, where the building represents the struggles and victory of the body of Christ.

In the oldest places of worship in the ancient Near East, archaeological evidence suggests that a temple site was primarily understood as a place where a deity dwelled. Divine presence is what made a place of worship sacred and established it a place of special importance. Over the centuries, these “divine houses” expanded in size and accumulated art and treasure. In addition to being a divine dwelling place, they became gathering places for communal worship. When Paul or John the Evangelist used metaphors of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, they had these ideas in the background: “Brothers and sisters,” writes Paul, “you are God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9). The Christian community is both a worshipping assembly and a place where God dwells. 

Threats against the Jerusalem temple and its eventual destruction by the Romans in 70 CE also influence New Testament mentions of God’s house. In this Sunday’s second reading, for example, Paul presents Jesus Christ as the foundation of a new building made up by the collective members of Jesus’ followers. How could this new temple ever be destroyed if it remained a spiritual one? “For the temple of God, which you are, is holy” (1 Cor 3:17). Paul must have been aware of Jesus’ own reference to himself as God’s temple, recorded in this Sunday’s Gospel passage, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19). The metaphor was a clear link both to the eventual destruction of the physical building and also to Jesus’ own death and resurrection. “But he was speaking about the temple of his body,” writes John (Jn 2:21).

For Catholics, a building or basilica does not represent the body of Christ or a divine “house.” It is, however, a powerful symbol of the community that gathers to worship. A church building can remind the community of their past and point the way to the future. For example, on the Native American reservation where I currently pastor, the 1891 mission church building reminds many of a traumatic history in which much of the native way of life was eradicated. The building also inspires many to dream of a different future, in which one can live out one’s Christian faith in the midst of native traditions that are equally worthy of respect. In a similar way St. John Lateran reminded Roman Christians of a later generation of the persecution of their forebears and pointed a way to a future in which Christ was victor over all. 

This Sunday’s readings remind the faithful today that the body of Christ is like a building that can be destroyed and rebuilt again and again throughout history. Every church building can foreshadow the resurrection insofar as it symbolizes the resilience of the Christian community. The church building we celebrate today embodies the sacrifices and victories of the earliest martyrs. May this history inspire us to live out Christ’s own zeal for God’s house.