Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
Information about the Lateran Basilica[i]
Readings for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica[ii]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
On this feast it is my tradition to offer you the reflections of others within the universal Church. Today’s reading commentary comes from Brendan Byrne SJ. The Homily is by Fr. Tommy Lane, S.S.L., S.T.D.
Readings and Commentary:[iii]
Reading 1: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
The angel brought me
back to the entrance of the temple,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the southern side.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
The scriptural offerings begin with a first reading taken from a (somewhat truncated) excerpt from Ezekiel’s vision of the renewed Temple in Jerusalem (47:1-2, 8-9, 12). Because the presence of the Lord has returned to the Temple (following the return of Israel itself from exile), the waters flowing from the Temple have become life-giving in the spectacular way described – even the Dead Sea is seen as being made to teem with fish when the waters enter it. The vision has entered Christian imagination as a powerful symbol of the life (grace) that flows to human beings through God’s presence in the Temple of the Church.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R. (5) The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore, we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9*
Psalm 46 is a hymn of praise. In this passage we see the analogy presented in the reading from Ezekiel referenced as the Lord is praised for supporting the people with his strength and creation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
Brothers and sisters:
You are God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17
In the second reading, 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17, St Paul moves from speaking of the Christian community at Corinth in terms of a ‘plantation’ to that of a ‘building’, and finally a ‘holy building’ or temple, in which God’s Spirit dwells. Christian ministers, such as himself and his co-workers, are the builders who are bringing this holy building to completion. The essential foundation that Paul has laid is Christ. As is necessary for the success of any building operation, all subsequent builders must ensure that their work is rightly aligned upon the foundation. The image of the community as a holy building or temple was something early Christianity derived from Judaism. It communicates the sense that even when absent from a physical place of worship the gathered community is already itself a holy building (temple) in which the Lord is present. The physical building is the outward, local, visible expression of the Christian conviction that it is God’s delight to dwell among human beings – a presence made vastly more accessible through the Incarnation of the Son, extended to all times and places through the sacramental life of the Church.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 2:13-22
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 2:13-22
The Gospel, John 2:13-22, adds a christological crown to this rich scriptural offering. In John’s account, Jesus’ ‘cleansing’ of the Temple in Jerusalem is very radical. By driving out the animals and money changers he is really overthrowing the whole system of Temple worship based upon animal sacrifices that had existed hitherto. ‘Zeal for (his) Father’s house consumes’ him in that his whole life and teaching is one great campaign to disclose and make effective the presence of God on a vastly wider scale than in the confines of the material Temple. His ‘zeal’ or passion for this mission will ‘consume’ him in the sense of bringing him to his death. However, as his disciples subsequently realize, his own body will become the new place of God’s presence, the ‘Temple’ which, through rising from the dead, he will build ‘in three days’. Believers need not mourn the loss of the Temple in Jerusalem (destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE). They live within the new ‘Temple’ constituted by the body of their risen Lord.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily[iv]
Fr. Tommy Lane, S.S.L., S.T.D
Information about the Lateran Basilica[i]
Readings for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica[ii]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
On this feast it is my tradition to offer you the reflections of others within the universal Church. Today’s reading commentary comes from Brendan Byrne SJ. The Homily is by Fr. Tommy Lane, S.S.L., S.T.D.
Readings and Commentary:[iii]
Reading 1: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
The angel brought me
back to the entrance of the temple,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the southern side.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
The scriptural offerings begin with a first reading taken from a (somewhat truncated) excerpt from Ezekiel’s vision of the renewed Temple in Jerusalem (47:1-2, 8-9, 12). Because the presence of the Lord has returned to the Temple (following the return of Israel itself from exile), the waters flowing from the Temple have become life-giving in the spectacular way described – even the Dead Sea is seen as being made to teem with fish when the waters enter it. The vision has entered Christian imagination as a powerful symbol of the life (grace) that flows to human beings through God’s presence in the Temple of the Church.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R. (5) The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore, we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9*
Psalm 46 is a hymn of praise. In this passage we see the analogy presented in the reading from Ezekiel referenced as the Lord is praised for supporting the people with his strength and creation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
Brothers and sisters:
You are God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17
In the second reading, 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17, St Paul moves from speaking of the Christian community at Corinth in terms of a ‘plantation’ to that of a ‘building’, and finally a ‘holy building’ or temple, in which God’s Spirit dwells. Christian ministers, such as himself and his co-workers, are the builders who are bringing this holy building to completion. The essential foundation that Paul has laid is Christ. As is necessary for the success of any building operation, all subsequent builders must ensure that their work is rightly aligned upon the foundation. The image of the community as a holy building or temple was something early Christianity derived from Judaism. It communicates the sense that even when absent from a physical place of worship the gathered community is already itself a holy building (temple) in which the Lord is present. The physical building is the outward, local, visible expression of the Christian conviction that it is God’s delight to dwell among human beings – a presence made vastly more accessible through the Incarnation of the Son, extended to all times and places through the sacramental life of the Church.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 2:13-22
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 2:13-22
The Gospel, John 2:13-22, adds a christological crown to this rich scriptural offering. In John’s account, Jesus’ ‘cleansing’ of the Temple in Jerusalem is very radical. By driving out the animals and money changers he is really overthrowing the whole system of Temple worship based upon animal sacrifices that had existed hitherto. ‘Zeal for (his) Father’s house consumes’ him in that his whole life and teaching is one great campaign to disclose and make effective the presence of God on a vastly wider scale than in the confines of the material Temple. His ‘zeal’ or passion for this mission will ‘consume’ him in the sense of bringing him to his death. However, as his disciples subsequently realize, his own body will become the new place of God’s presence, the ‘Temple’ which, through rising from the dead, he will build ‘in three days’. Believers need not mourn the loss of the Temple in Jerusalem (destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE). They live within the new ‘Temple’ constituted by the body of their risen Lord.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily[iv]
Fr. Tommy Lane, S.S.L., S.T.D
www.frtommylane.com
We celebrate today the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome because it is the head and mother church of all churches in the world. On the façade of the basilica there is an inscription in Latin which reads, “the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world.” One might think St. Peter’s Basilica is the head of all the churches but in fact it is the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Every bishop has a cathedral and the Pope’s cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran not the Basilica of St. Peter.
You may ask “Why is the Basilica of St. John Lateran the Pope’s cathedral and not the Basilica of St. Peter since he lives next to St. Peter's Basilica?” History gives us the answer. In the early centuries Christianity was outlawed in Rome and many Christians in Rome suffered martyrdom. The Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and the famous Edict of Milan in 313 AD allowed Christians to practice their religion in public. Constantine had been given the palace in Rome that belonged to the Laterani and after his conversion to Christianity he gave it to the Pope. The Lateran Palace was then adapted to become a church and was dedicated on 9th November 324 and the Pope then lived in the Lateran Palace as it was called for the next 1000 years and the basilica was his cathedral. It was first called the Basilica of the Savior but later was also dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist and so it acquired the name Basilica of St. John Lateran. When the Papacy transferred to Avignon for about a century the condition of the Lateran deteriorated so much that when the Papacy returned to Rome the Pope lived in two other locations before finally settling adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica where he now lives.
Perhaps we could say that the many times the Basilica suffered destruction of some kind is a symbol of the attacks on the Church and the hatred of some for the Church. The Basilica was attacked by the Vandals twice in 408 and 455. It was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake in 896 and it was destroyed by fire in 1308 and 1360. The Basilica is visited by huge numbers of pilgrims every year also symbolizing the love of so many people for the Church.
Those who visit the Basilica on pilgrimage visit it not just because it is the head of all churches and the Pope’s cathedral. The wooden altar on which St. Peter celebrated Mass while in Rome is inside the main altar. The heads of Sts Peter and Paul were once believed to be inside busts above the main altar. Part of the table on which the Last Supper was celebrated is said to be behind a bronze depiction of the Last Supper. At one time the Holy Stairs which is nearby was also in the Lateran, the stairs in Pilate's house on which Jesus is said to have walked during his trial. It is a marble stairs and is now covered with wood to protect it. Pilgrims ascend the stairs on their knees contemplating Jesus’ Passion and on the way up drops of blood may be seen on the marble stairs beneath protective glass. The stairs was brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother St. Helena.
Celebrating the dedication of the Pope’s cathedral today shows our unity with the Pope and our love and respect for him. Not only that, but it shows that we are united with each other in the Church. St. Paul described this unity in the Church in his first letter to the Corinthians as the Body of Christ.
For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts – all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body – so it is with Christ. We were baptized into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink. (1 Cor 12:12-13)…Now Christ’s body is yourselves, each of you with a part to play in the whole. (1 Cor 12:27)
In our first reading today we heard Ezekiel’s vision of a river flowing from the Temple in Jerusalem and bringing life everywhere it went. We could see it as a vision of the Church receiving life-giving grace from Jesus. In the Letter to the Ephesians we read,
You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. Every structure knit together in him grows into a holy temple in the Lord; and you too in him are being built up into a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit.
In our second reading today we have a similar idea, “You are God’s building…the foundation…is Jesus Christ.” These passages from Scripture remind us to make Jesus the foundation stone and corner stone of our lives because there is a life-giving river flowing from him to fill us with his grace.
As we celebrate today the dedication of the “the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world” let us pray also for those who have got lost going through life that they find the Church as a true mother to them and that Jesus may become the foundation stone and corner stone of their lives.
[i] The photograph is of St. John Lateran Basilica, Photographer and Date were not cited.
[ii] ALTRE
[iii] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
* Brendan Byrne SJ did not write a commentary on the Psalm, this commentary is my own.
[iv] By Fr. Tommy Lane, S.S.L., S.T.D. (License in Sacred Scripture, Doctorate in Sacred Theology). Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland, USA, which is on the campus of Mount St. Mary’s University. Previously ministered in Ireland. More biographical info
We celebrate today the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome because it is the head and mother church of all churches in the world. On the façade of the basilica there is an inscription in Latin which reads, “the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world.” One might think St. Peter’s Basilica is the head of all the churches but in fact it is the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Every bishop has a cathedral and the Pope’s cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran not the Basilica of St. Peter.
You may ask “Why is the Basilica of St. John Lateran the Pope’s cathedral and not the Basilica of St. Peter since he lives next to St. Peter's Basilica?” History gives us the answer. In the early centuries Christianity was outlawed in Rome and many Christians in Rome suffered martyrdom. The Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and the famous Edict of Milan in 313 AD allowed Christians to practice their religion in public. Constantine had been given the palace in Rome that belonged to the Laterani and after his conversion to Christianity he gave it to the Pope. The Lateran Palace was then adapted to become a church and was dedicated on 9th November 324 and the Pope then lived in the Lateran Palace as it was called for the next 1000 years and the basilica was his cathedral. It was first called the Basilica of the Savior but later was also dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist and so it acquired the name Basilica of St. John Lateran. When the Papacy transferred to Avignon for about a century the condition of the Lateran deteriorated so much that when the Papacy returned to Rome the Pope lived in two other locations before finally settling adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica where he now lives.
Perhaps we could say that the many times the Basilica suffered destruction of some kind is a symbol of the attacks on the Church and the hatred of some for the Church. The Basilica was attacked by the Vandals twice in 408 and 455. It was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake in 896 and it was destroyed by fire in 1308 and 1360. The Basilica is visited by huge numbers of pilgrims every year also symbolizing the love of so many people for the Church.
Those who visit the Basilica on pilgrimage visit it not just because it is the head of all churches and the Pope’s cathedral. The wooden altar on which St. Peter celebrated Mass while in Rome is inside the main altar. The heads of Sts Peter and Paul were once believed to be inside busts above the main altar. Part of the table on which the Last Supper was celebrated is said to be behind a bronze depiction of the Last Supper. At one time the Holy Stairs which is nearby was also in the Lateran, the stairs in Pilate's house on which Jesus is said to have walked during his trial. It is a marble stairs and is now covered with wood to protect it. Pilgrims ascend the stairs on their knees contemplating Jesus’ Passion and on the way up drops of blood may be seen on the marble stairs beneath protective glass. The stairs was brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother St. Helena.
Celebrating the dedication of the Pope’s cathedral today shows our unity with the Pope and our love and respect for him. Not only that, but it shows that we are united with each other in the Church. St. Paul described this unity in the Church in his first letter to the Corinthians as the Body of Christ.
For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts – all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body – so it is with Christ. We were baptized into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink. (1 Cor 12:12-13)…Now Christ’s body is yourselves, each of you with a part to play in the whole. (1 Cor 12:27)
In our first reading today we heard Ezekiel’s vision of a river flowing from the Temple in Jerusalem and bringing life everywhere it went. We could see it as a vision of the Church receiving life-giving grace from Jesus. In the Letter to the Ephesians we read,
You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. Every structure knit together in him grows into a holy temple in the Lord; and you too in him are being built up into a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit.
In our second reading today we have a similar idea, “You are God’s building…the foundation…is Jesus Christ.” These passages from Scripture remind us to make Jesus the foundation stone and corner stone of our lives because there is a life-giving river flowing from him to fill us with his grace.
As we celebrate today the dedication of the “the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world” let us pray also for those who have got lost going through life that they find the Church as a true mother to them and that Jesus may become the foundation stone and corner stone of their lives.
[i] The photograph is of St. John Lateran Basilica, Photographer and Date were not cited.
[ii] ALTRE
[iii] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
* Brendan Byrne SJ did not write a commentary on the Psalm, this commentary is my own.
[iv] By Fr. Tommy Lane, S.S.L., S.T.D. (License in Sacred Scripture, Doctorate in Sacred Theology). Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland, USA, which is on the campus of Mount St. Mary’s University. Previously ministered in Ireland. More biographical info
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