Over this last year there has been a pilgrimage of hope that has seen millions of pilgrims pass through the Holy Doors that have been opened for this jubilee. In the city of Rome, there are four major basilicas each of which opened a holy door for the Jubilee of Hope.
These are the basilicas of St Mary Major, St Paul outside the walls, St Peter’s Basilica and Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Saviour of Saint John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, also called St John Lateran for short, it is oldest and is the mother Church of Rome and the whole world.
As we honour the mother Church of the whole world, we are called to ponder the importance of a Church building that is dedicated to the worship of God.
It is the Pope’s cathedral and was dedicated in 324. We are called to prayer for how these sacred places shape us into places where we encounter God in a profound way.
Yet it is the liminal space where we stand at the lintel of these holy places that we are called to notice the transition that takes place. We move from the outside to the inside and are often stunned by the beauty that has been preserved over the years. Yet do we notice the beauty that we encounter within ourselves.
Any pilgrimage is more than taking photos or recording experiences; it looks to what lasts rather than what is transitional. As people return home from entering these four buildings and praying there what remains of the experience that is foundational for our Christian life.
St Paul hints at this when he says, “you are God’s building”. Building on the foundation of Christ we are called to discover the sacredness not just of Churches but of people who gather in them.
The building in its essence helps us to discover how the Spirit of God is living among us. As he says the temple of God is sacred and you are that temple.
I think this is what provokes Jesus into a rage where he overturns tables, scatters coins and drives out animals. It is trying to block the person’s encounter with the sacred through trading in spiritual goods.
We should always have this in our consciousness of how we make it easier for people to develop the sacred space within them.
Ezekiel when he points to how a stream of water flows eastward from the temple. This water seeks to make the sea wholesome. It also allows fruit trees to flourish, produce fruit and leaves that are medicinal. The essence is that what flows into the temple also flows out into the world.
We are called to be people who have the mind of Christ and look at what helps people to thrive. To allow people space to discover holiness and listen to how God is moving in their lives.
This is a slow patient process that allows them to be nurtured and watered with life giving water. We are called to become people who proclaim a jubilee of hope.
Fr. John Armstrong
“The intellectual quest is exquisite, like pearls and coral. But it is not the same as the spiritual quest. The spiritual quest is on another level altogether. Spiritual wine has a subtler taste. The intellect and the senses investigate cause and effect. The spiritual seeker surrenders to wonder.” (Rumi Wisdom; trans. Timothy Freke)
