Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
Information about the Lateran Basilica[1]
Readings for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica[2]
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 reflection/homily is from Deacon Stephen G. Scott of the Community of St. Benedict, Holmdel, New Jersey, USA
Readings and Commentary:[3]
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 realise, 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Information about the Lateran Basilica[1]
Readings for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica[2]
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 reflection/homily is from Deacon Stephen G. Scott of the Community of St. Benedict, Holmdel, New Jersey, USA
Readings and Commentary:[3]
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 realise, 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
By Deacon Stephen G. Scott
Today we again place Ordinary time to the side and celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. During the first few centuries of our Church, there was no such thing as a church building. Christianity was outlawed and people met in whatever secret place they could that wouldn’t attract the attention of their persecutors. The only temple built to worship the One, True God was in Jerusalem and only until 70 AD when the Romans destroyed it. Not until the Edict of Milan issued by the Emperors Licinius and Constantine in 313 could Christians even begin to think about gathering for worship in a place set aside for it. On November 9, 324, Pope Sylvester consecrated the first public Christian church in Rome. It was called the Church of the Savior. This church served as the mother church of Christianity, the place where the Pope sat in the chair of Peter. After undergoing renovation in the eleventh century, its name was changed to honor the family who underwrote the renovation and it became the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which continues to be the Cathedral church for the bishop of Rome to this day. That is why the Church all over the whole world celebrates this day in memory of our Mother Church.
What’s your image of a Holy place, of Church? Today, we certainly have our pick of images – The Basilica of St. John Lateran, Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple of the Most High saving all of God’s creation with the water of life flowing in every direction. Paul tells the people of Corinth that WE are God’s building, His Temple on which we build the foundation of our lives through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then there is John’s version of Jesus driving the money changers and sellers out of the Temple mount and telling us that His body is the temple not made by human hands which will be destroyed and then raised up again on the third day. That’s a great many images to consider. Lets take a look at Jesus in the Temple first.
The Jerusalem temple to which Jesus came, according to John, was a large complex of buildings which King Herod had been refurbishing for 46 years. It wasn’t a single building like St John Lateran or St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but a whole campus with many buildings of all shapes and sizes. By the time of Jesus, the Temple had become the major industry in Jerusalem. It employed construction workers, an administrative staff, innkeepers and other service-providers who all profited from the crowds of pilgrims regularly coming into the city. In this context, the demonstration by Jesus against the excessive commercialization of the Jerusalem Temple complex is understandable both in terms of Jesus ministry and the effect it had on the local Jewish and Roman leaders. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) which place this event just before Holy week, John places this event at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In John’s account, Jesus raises the stakes further by referring to the Temple as “my Father’s house” and proclaiming Himself as the embodiment of God’s presence among us. As we’ve already seen in John’s Gospel, Jesus is the Word of God who has become flesh and made His dwelling among us.
As followers of Jesus, and therefore members of the body of Christ, we become “the temple of God” through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As Paul tells us, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” This foundation, built on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, provides a solid base for us to build up the Church by building up ourselves in faith by prayer and study. Another way to look at it should be familiar to any of us who owns a house.
If the foundation of our house is built properly, we can expect the building to last for a long time. That being said, we must also maintain and upgrade the building from time to time to keep it in good repair and save many costly repairs that might be expected if we were to neglect the upkeep of the house. How is it that we keep up our Faith? Do we expect that the foundation we were given by our parents when we were in grade school would be enough to maintain our faith for the rest of our lives? Again – a good foundation may keep the house from sinking, but that doesn’t mean pieces of it, like worn shingles, won’t fall off if we don’t keep up the maintenance. What about things like heating and cooling systems? Don’t they need to be upgraded as they wear out and perform poorly? Like those systems that maintain our home’s environment, we need to read and study to give ourselves a faith filled environment that keeps our faith from falling off its foundation. The constant feeding of our spiritual life is like the flow of water Ezekiel sees coming from the temple in today’s first reading.
Ezekiel was of two prophets during Israel’s exile in Babylon in the sixth century BC. That exile began with the defeat of Israel by the Babylonians. The original Temple – the one Solomon had built in the 10th century BC, and was the key site of worship for the Jews. When the Babylonians completely destroyed it, like the Romans would destroy the Second Temple in 70 AD, Israel was in mourning. Ezekiel envisions the restoration of the temple and of the River of Life flowing from it. As much as this vision would comfort the exiled Israelites, who were suffering from thirst and starvation, we must view it as as the life giving water the Spirit gives us during our lives. As we build up our faith, we must tap into that river and be led by the Spirit to where God needs us to be. We are to be be the building, the Holy place set apart for our God. Just as the The Lateran Basilica has withstood centuries of destructive forces and yet endured – just like the Universal Church itself, we celebrate the Lateran as a symbol of all the holy places in this world, public and personal, that elevate our thoughts and move our hearts to the grand contemplation of “everything”. Such places help us to see as God sees: from an exalted and unified perspective across the isolation of given moments and particular place. They help us leap from the personal to the universal, from the present hour to the eternal. Jesus once cleared the Jerusalem temple to prepare for the radical replacement of its authority with Himself. Holy places invite us to consider how God once pitched His tent among us. We who believe in Jesus become quite literally that sacred meeting ground in flesh and blood. Our very lives are holy places. Let us remember to recognize and care for those holy places.
From me - Pax
Today we again place Ordinary time to the side and celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. During the first few centuries of our Church, there was no such thing as a church building. Christianity was outlawed and people met in whatever secret place they could that wouldn’t attract the attention of their persecutors. The only temple built to worship the One, True God was in Jerusalem and only until 70 AD when the Romans destroyed it. Not until the Edict of Milan issued by the Emperors Licinius and Constantine in 313 could Christians even begin to think about gathering for worship in a place set aside for it. On November 9, 324, Pope Sylvester consecrated the first public Christian church in Rome. It was called the Church of the Savior. This church served as the mother church of Christianity, the place where the Pope sat in the chair of Peter. After undergoing renovation in the eleventh century, its name was changed to honor the family who underwrote the renovation and it became the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which continues to be the Cathedral church for the bishop of Rome to this day. That is why the Church all over the whole world celebrates this day in memory of our Mother Church.
What’s your image of a Holy place, of Church? Today, we certainly have our pick of images – The Basilica of St. John Lateran, Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple of the Most High saving all of God’s creation with the water of life flowing in every direction. Paul tells the people of Corinth that WE are God’s building, His Temple on which we build the foundation of our lives through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then there is John’s version of Jesus driving the money changers and sellers out of the Temple mount and telling us that His body is the temple not made by human hands which will be destroyed and then raised up again on the third day. That’s a great many images to consider. Lets take a look at Jesus in the Temple first.
The Jerusalem temple to which Jesus came, according to John, was a large complex of buildings which King Herod had been refurbishing for 46 years. It wasn’t a single building like St John Lateran or St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but a whole campus with many buildings of all shapes and sizes. By the time of Jesus, the Temple had become the major industry in Jerusalem. It employed construction workers, an administrative staff, innkeepers and other service-providers who all profited from the crowds of pilgrims regularly coming into the city. In this context, the demonstration by Jesus against the excessive commercialization of the Jerusalem Temple complex is understandable both in terms of Jesus ministry and the effect it had on the local Jewish and Roman leaders. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) which place this event just before Holy week, John places this event at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In John’s account, Jesus raises the stakes further by referring to the Temple as “my Father’s house” and proclaiming Himself as the embodiment of God’s presence among us. As we’ve already seen in John’s Gospel, Jesus is the Word of God who has become flesh and made His dwelling among us.
As followers of Jesus, and therefore members of the body of Christ, we become “the temple of God” through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As Paul tells us, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” This foundation, built on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, provides a solid base for us to build up the Church by building up ourselves in faith by prayer and study. Another way to look at it should be familiar to any of us who owns a house.
If the foundation of our house is built properly, we can expect the building to last for a long time. That being said, we must also maintain and upgrade the building from time to time to keep it in good repair and save many costly repairs that might be expected if we were to neglect the upkeep of the house. How is it that we keep up our Faith? Do we expect that the foundation we were given by our parents when we were in grade school would be enough to maintain our faith for the rest of our lives? Again – a good foundation may keep the house from sinking, but that doesn’t mean pieces of it, like worn shingles, won’t fall off if we don’t keep up the maintenance. What about things like heating and cooling systems? Don’t they need to be upgraded as they wear out and perform poorly? Like those systems that maintain our home’s environment, we need to read and study to give ourselves a faith filled environment that keeps our faith from falling off its foundation. The constant feeding of our spiritual life is like the flow of water Ezekiel sees coming from the temple in today’s first reading.
Ezekiel was of two prophets during Israel’s exile in Babylon in the sixth century BC. That exile began with the defeat of Israel by the Babylonians. The original Temple – the one Solomon had built in the 10th century BC, and was the key site of worship for the Jews. When the Babylonians completely destroyed it, like the Romans would destroy the Second Temple in 70 AD, Israel was in mourning. Ezekiel envisions the restoration of the temple and of the River of Life flowing from it. As much as this vision would comfort the exiled Israelites, who were suffering from thirst and starvation, we must view it as as the life giving water the Spirit gives us during our lives. As we build up our faith, we must tap into that river and be led by the Spirit to where God needs us to be. We are to be be the building, the Holy place set apart for our God. Just as the The Lateran Basilica has withstood centuries of destructive forces and yet endured – just like the Universal Church itself, we celebrate the Lateran as a symbol of all the holy places in this world, public and personal, that elevate our thoughts and move our hearts to the grand contemplation of “everything”. Such places help us to see as God sees: from an exalted and unified perspective across the isolation of given moments and particular place. They help us leap from the personal to the universal, from the present hour to the eternal. Jesus once cleared the Jerusalem temple to prepare for the radical replacement of its authority with Himself. Holy places invite us to consider how God once pitched His tent among us. We who believe in Jesus become quite literally that sacred meeting ground in flesh and blood. Our very lives are holy places. Let us remember to recognize and care for those holy places.
From me - Pax
* Brendan Byrne SJ did not write a commentary on the Psalm, this commentary is my own.
[1] The photograph is of St. John Lateran Basilica, Photographer and Date were not cited.
[2] ALTRE
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
1 comment:
just plain wonderful, have you ever heard something fifty times only to wake at fifty one ?
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