Servant of the Word: Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

St. John Lateran Basilica,
Photographer and Date were not cited.

Information about the Lateran Basilica[1]

Readings for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica[2]

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. Phil Bloom, Pastor, St. Mary of the Valley, Monroe.

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading 1: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12

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.

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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!

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.

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Reading II: 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17

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.

CCC: 1 Cor 3:9 307, 755, 756; 1 Cor 3:11 756; 1 Cor 3:16-17 797

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Gospel: John 2:13-22

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.

CCC: Jn 2:13-14 583; Jn 2:16-17 584; Jn 2:18-22 586; Jn 2:18 575; Jn 2:19-22 994; Jn 2:21 586

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Homily[4]

By - Fr. Phil Bloom

Today we celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. From the readings we can gain some sense of the importance of this feast. In the Old Testament lesson, the prophet says,

“I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east…” (Ez 47:2)

The trickle of water was not a natural phenomenon. The prophet walks a thousand cubits (about five hundred meters) and the water is ankle-deep. He goes another thousand cubits and it is up to his knees. Another thousand and it reaches his waist. But when he walks a final thousand, it has become so deep that he can only cross it by swimming.

This marvelous river contains an abundance of fish and on its banks grows every kind of fruit tree. And, he says, some of the trees have leaves which serve for medicine. (v.12) The water which flows from the temple sanctuary has great power.

Like the prophet Ezekiel, Jesus held the temple in great esteem. He called it “my Father’s house.” (Jn 2:16) More than anyone else, he fulfilled the scriptural words, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Now it is true that for us Christians, the new locus of worship is not the temple, but rather Jesus’ body. (Jn 2:21) The whole meaning of the Mass is that by the power of the Spirit we participate in Jesus’ sacrificial death. Still, we need a physical building, a space set apart, to perform that sacred act.

Today’s feast honors a specific church, not the largest, not the most beautiful in Christendom. Yet, because it is the cathedral church of Rome, it bears the title Omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput. The mother of all the churches in the city and in the world – and their head.

In an age of social and moral disintegration – which has deeply wounded even the Body of Christ – we need to immerse ourselves in that healing river – flowing from the house of God.

In other Years: Monday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

[1] The photograph is of St. John Lateran Basilica, Photographer and Date were not cited.

[2] S.S. Commemoratio

* Brendan Byrne SJ did not write a commentary on the Psalm, this commentary is my own.

[4] Fr. Phil Bloom, Pastor, St. Mary of the Valley, Monroe