FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN ARCHBASILICA OF ST. JOHN IN ROME (2025)

Readings:

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

Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9

1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17

John 2:13-22

So why are we celebrating a Feast on a Sunday, and what is so important about the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran?  In the year 313 the Roman emperor Constantine published the Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom to Christians.  The days of persecuting Christians publicly were over, and Constantine himself donated the palace of the Lateran, a portion of his wife’s dowry, to the Church for its first (oldest) basilica.  The Lateran is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, and, as such, it ranks as the mother and head of all the churches in the city of Rome and in the world at large.  From its dedication on this date in 324 until the 15th century, the Lateran was the residence of the popes.  It is the only archbasilica in the world, and it was dedicated to Christ the Saviour, in honor of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.  It is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, the oldest of Rome’s four major cathedrals, and the oldest basilica in the Western world.  It has the title of ecumenical mother church of all the Catholic faithful.

Today’s feast is important for all of the reasons stated above, and it is important for Catholic history, for it represents the fulfillment of its prototype, the Jerusalem Temple, described in our first reading from the prophet Ezekiel as a “holy dwelling,” the “source of living waters” which bring fullness of life and much blessing.   As we are aware, for Christians the Temple gives way to the Body of Christ, which now dwells in every Christian Church, cathedral or Basilica in the entire world.  All churches are signs of God’s glory dwelling among us, whose living water in the sacrament of baptism causes us, as Paul’s letter to the Corinthians tells us to be “God’s building.”  Paul tells us that we “are the temple of God,” stones who are built up on the foundation stone that is Christ.  Like living stones built on the cornerstone of Christ, we are called to build up the Temple of God, the church.

Our understanding of today’s feast and the readings serve as a prelude for today’s gospel reading from John.  Even as this story was portrayed in the television phenomenon, Jesus almost appears to lose it and allow an inner rage to take over.  But where does Christ’s rage stem from?  It stems from His understanding of what the Temple was meant to be, what every church is meant to be – a “holy” place, where we come into contact with the God who is the foundation stone.  While the buying and selling of animals for sacrifice and other goods was permitted and necessary for worship, Jesus sensed the Temple had become something other than what it was meant to be.  Commerce seemed to have become an end in itself, eclipsing the experience of worship.  Where money is involved, there is always the danger of unfair prices, and gouging those who cannot afford the costs required.  Jesus saw a living sacrilege undercutting the very purpose of the ‘sacred space’ which should have characterized the Temple.  Jesus’ passionate cleansing of the Temple sprang from His passion for leading others into a deep and mutual relationship with God and one another.

Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple reminds us of what Jesus wants for all Churches, and remember, as Paul tells us, we are the Church, it is our hearts that Jesus wishes to purify.  He comes, even today, into our celebrations of the Eucharist, to drive out the greed, jealousy, anger, division, lust, and the sinfulness that obscures what is right and just.  We have sadly witnessed the useless destruction of a Church, a Church where Jesus would have liked to drive out the blinding vindictiveness which robbed the church of its innate holiness, letting an overwhelming ego, which threatened the very stones that wanted to stay attached to Christ, and bringing a destruction not unlike the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

Today’s liturgy is a dive into what structures become when they claim to shelter the very face of God.  All that obscures that face needs to be cleansed, and while parting with our sinfulness is difficult, we must welcome and invite God to cleanse us of our sinfulness.  We cannot be truly happy until we are made suitable dwelling places for the glory of the Lord.  May others who come in contact with us worshippers find Christ living within us.

FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN ARCHBASILICA OF ST. JOHN IN ROME (2025)

Readings:

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

Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9

1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17

John 2:13-22

So why are we celebrating a Feast on a Sunday, and what is so important about the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran?  In the year 313 the Roman emperor Constantine published the Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom to Christians.  The days of persecuting Christians publicly were over, and Constantine himself donated the palace of the Lateran, a portion of his wife’s dowry, to the Church for its first (oldest) basilica.  The Lateran is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, and, as such, it ranks as the mother and head of all the churches in the city of Rome and in the world at large.  From its dedication on this date in 324 until the 15th century, the Lateran was the residence of the popes.  It is the only archbasilica in the world, and it was dedicated to Christ the Saviour, in honor of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.  It is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, the oldest of Rome’s four major cathedrals, and the oldest basilica in the Western world.  It has the title of ecumenical mother church of all the Catholic faithful.

Today’s feast is important for all of the reasons stated above, and it is important for Catholic history, for it represents the fulfillment of its prototype, the Jerusalem Temple, described in our first reading from the prophet Ezekiel as a “holy dwelling,” the “source of living waters” which bring fullness of life and much blessing.   As we are aware, for Christians the Temple gives way to the Body of Christ, which now dwells in every Christian Church, cathedral or Basilica in the entire world.  All churches are signs of God’s glory dwelling among us, whose living water in the sacrament of baptism causes us, as Paul’s letter to the Corinthians tells us to be “God’s building.”  Paul tells us that we “are the temple of God,” stones who are built up on the foundation stone that is Christ.  Like living stones built on the cornerstone of Christ, we are called to build up the Temple of God, the church.

Our understanding of today’s feast and the readings serve as a prelude for today’s gospel reading from John.  Even as this story was portrayed in the television phenomenon, Jesus almost appears to lose it and allow an inner rage to take over.  But where does Christ’s rage stem from?  It stems from His understanding of what the Temple was meant to be, what every church is meant to be – a “holy” place, where we come into contact with the God who is the foundation stone.  While the buying and selling of animals for sacrifice and other goods was permitted and necessary for worship, Jesus sensed the Temple had become something other than what it was meant to be.  Commerce seemed to have become an end in itself, eclipsing the experience of worship.  Where money is involved, there is always the danger of unfair prices, and gouging those who cannot afford the costs required.  Jesus saw a living sacrilege undercutting the very purpose of the ‘sacred space’ which should have characterized the Temple.  Jesus’ passionate cleansing of the Temple sprang from His passion for leading others into a deep and mutual relationship with God and one another.

Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple reminds us of what Jesus wants for all Churches, and remember, as Paul tells us, we are the Church, it is our hearts that Jesus wishes to purify.  He comes, even today, into our celebrations of the Eucharist, to drive out the greed, jealousy, anger, division, lust, and the sinfulness that obscures what is right and just.  We have sadly witnessed the useless destruction of a Church, a Church where Jesus would have liked to drive out the blinding vindictiveness which robbed the church of its innate holiness, letting an overwhelming ego, which threatened the very stones that wanted to stay attached to Christ, and bringing a destruction not unlike the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

Today’s liturgy is a dive into what structures become when they claim to shelter the very face of God.  All that obscures that face needs to be cleansed, and while parting with our sinfulness is difficult, we must welcome and invite God to cleanse us of our sinfulness.  We cannot be truly happy until we are made suitable dwelling places for the glory of the Lord.  May others who come in contact with us worshippers find Christ living within us.