Information about the Lateran Basilica
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| St. John Lateran Basilica by Deacon Robert Lackney, artist and architect |
Readings for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
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.”
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Commentary on Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
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!
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!
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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 (Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12) as the Lord is praised for supporting the people with his strength and creation.
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
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.
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.
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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 he 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.”
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Gospel: John 2:13-22
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.
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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.”
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Reflection
Today the liturgy commemorates the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which is the Cathedral of Rome and which tradition defines as “mother of all Churches of the city and of the world”. The term “mother”, refers not as much to the sacred building of the Basilica, as to the work of the Holy Spirit who is made manifest in this building, bearing fruit through the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, and in all communities which abide in unity with the Church over which he presides.
[1] The drawing is of St. John Lateran Basilica by Deacon Robert Lackney, artist and architect.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] 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 republication 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.
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