Monsignor Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the Gospel of this Sunday, November 9, 2025, entitled: “I saw water coming out of the temple: it was water that gave life and fertility”.

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Ezekiel 47, 1-2. 8-9. 12: “I saw water coming out of the temple: it was water that gave life and fertility.”

Psalm 45: “A river makes glad the city of God.”

1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17: “You are the temple of God.”

John 2:13-22: “Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body.”

A few days ago, we blessed a new chapel in a very remote ranch. What a source of pride for the faithful of this small community! They explained to me how everyone participated, both in obtaining the materials and physically in the construction. “This church, more than just stones and cement, is a symbol and sign of the dignity of each one of us: we live far away, poor and forgotten, but we are the temple of God.”

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome and the oldest and most important of all the Western churches. This feast is so significant that it breaks the rhythm of ordinary Sundays and invites us to reflect on the meaning of the Church’s foundation and mission, of churches and their construction, and of the living temple that each of us is. It was a powerful symbol when Pope Francis, just days after the beginning of his pontificate, went to assume his ministry as Bishop of Rome in this Basilica.

What is the Church like, and what should it be like? Pope Francis humbly acknowledged that “The Church must delve deeper into her self-awareness, she must meditate… compare the ideal image of the Church—as Christ saw her, desired her, and loved her as his holy and immaculate Bride—with the real face the Church presents today. Therefore, a generous and almost impatient longing for renewal arises, that is, for the correction of the defects that our conscience denounces and reflects, as an inner examination before the mirror of the model Christ left us of himself.” Are we reflecting the face Jesus wants for his Church? Today’s readings offer us three vivid images for us to examine whether we are truly responding to Jesus’ dream.

The first image is presented to us by Ezekiel: a beautiful picture of the temple from which water flows, giving life and fertility in every direction, healing the deserts, making life flourish, giving strength and vigor to fruit trees and medicinal plants. Can we recognize our Church in this image? These are the dreams of Jesus: that his Gospel may bring life and true prosperity to all places, that it may heal the sick, that it may bear fruits of justice and peace. For this reason, he also embraces from Pope Leo XIII a Church with open doors, filled with the Spirit, that carries in its heart the joy of the Gospel. A Church that inspires and encourages. A Samaritan Church that binds up wounds, that welcomes those who have gone astray. A mother Church that lovingly embraces all her children. This Church, made up of sinners and the wretched, has the great mission of giving life through the Gospel.

The second image is the expulsion of the merchants. Jesus’ words were harsh, and his blows, which drove the merchants from the temple, were even harsher. Today, one of the serious problems we face is viewing religion as a business and a source of profit: the commercialization of religions. People seek the most convenient religion, the one that offers the most ease, the one that requires the least commitment, the one that brings us the most happiness. Unfortunately, we must acknowledge that we have often fallen into this commercialism, and not only on the part of its ministers, but a mentality that favors it has developed. The relationship with God is not as important as fulfilling a ritual; we are not interested in the encounter with Jesus, but in a social appearance of the sacraments; we are not interested in a serious commitment, but only in escaping problems and hardships. Thus, novenas and meaningless devotions multiply, and the profound experience of the Gospel is abandoned. We “fulfill” obligations, but we do not live in relationship with Christ.

“Zeal for your house consumes me,” confirms St. John, trying to justify Jesus’ actions. And certainly, Jesus will be zealous for the worship given to his Father in the temples and will seek to make each home a place of encounter and intimacy with God, to give space to listen to his Word and to live in fraternity. But undoubtedly, he is also referring to the temple of his body and the temple of each person. How much contempt and manipulation of people! Countless crimes and violations of the dignity of each one of them. They are not treated as temples! At the same time that we must care for and respect temples, we must recognize and respect the dignity of each person as a temple of God. As the preface for this day says: “For in every house consecrated to prayer you have deigned to remain with us, to make us yourself temples of the Holy Spirit, which, sustained by your grace, may shine with the splendor of a holy life.”

The third image is the words of Saint Paul, which resonate powerfully in a world where the human person has been devalued, where human rights are proclaimed only to be violated: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? Whoever destroys God’s temple will be destroyed by God; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” How deeply we should grieve the trafficking of people, especially children, prostitution, human rights violations, murders, and disappearances, knowing that each one of them is a temple of God. People have been commodified, used as mere exchange, cast aside, and despised in the name of progress and the well-being of a few. The situation we have reached is sad and deeply regrettable: the executions, the kidnappings, the sale of organs and people.

What do today’s readings make us think? What do they commit us to? Do we respect our churches and people as temples of God?