Dedication of the Lateran Basilica "Jn 2:13-22" Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade." We are not used to seeing Jesus so upset: making a whip of cords, driving people and animals out of the Temple, pouring out coins and overturning tables...Jesus, who was patient and loving with everyone, including sinners, is angry today because of that lack of respect for God in His own Temple. Today is the anniversary of the dedication of the Basilica of St John Lateran (the Cathedral of the Pope), in 324, and is a good day to reflect on this. Imagine going to the cinema and stuffing yourself with popcorn and fizzy drinks but without actually watching the film! That's what happened when people came to the Temple but didn't care about God. Still today, some can go to church and talk to everyone they meet except to God. Some people forget that the "house of God" is a house of prayer. God is Really Present in our churches, but some people regard the Tabernacle as they would a nice painting or a statue. Jesus once lamented to St. Faustina, "How painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion," He said, "I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy. In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn her love. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is but a pale image and likeness of My love." Mary, House of Gold, may I always comfort your Son in the Tabernacle, during the Holy Mass, with my presence and my prayer.