Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica – Homily (2025)

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 (5)
1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
John 2:13-22
November 9, 2025

On each day of the secular calendar there are memorials and feasts that are celebrated.  Generally, when they fall on a Sunday, the Sunday takes precedence and the feast/memorial is skipped.

There are some solemnities and feasts that do take precedence over Sundays in Ordinary Time.  This year we have five of them.  Last week it was All Souls’ Day.  One can understand why All Souls’ Day would take precedence as we pray for our deceased loved ones.

What about today?

Why does the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica take precedence over the normal Sunday?

Some of you may have no idea where the Lateran Basilica is, let alone what makes it important.

It is in Rome.  It was originally built in 324 A.D.  It was one of the first churches built after Christianity was legalized.  This makes it historically significant but there is another reason that explains why the whole Catholic Church celebrates this feast.

The St. John Lateran Basilica is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.  Every diocese has a cathedral which serves as the central church in the diocese.  It is a point of unity in the diocese.

Do you realize who the Bishop of Rome is?  It is the Pope. 

So, the St. John Lateran Basilica is a central church for the entire Catholic Church.  This is what makes today’s feast important enough to take precedence over the normal Sunday Mass.

It is a day for us to think about what it means to be “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” 

When you hear the word “church,” what do you think of?

It often begins with church buildings. 

The buildings we use as churches are certainly important.  They need to be well-maintained and beautiful, suitable to be the dwelling place of our Lord who dwells in a special way in each church building.

In Jesus’ days on earth, the central place of worship for all Jews in the world was the temple in Jerusalem. 

What does Jesus find in the temple area in Jerusalem?

He finds a “marketplace.”  There are merchants selling sheep and doves for the sacrifices.  There are money-changers there to exchange the coins the Jews from other lands bring for Jewish currency so they can pay their temple tax.

Their presence in the temple area started with good intent but the business side had taken over and Jesus drove them out.

This is why we don’t sell merchandise in church. Yes, we sell stuff for fundraisers but we limit that and we kept it in the entry ways because the church is a church, not a marketplace.  We allow it because if we set them up in another space, most people would never go over.  I will not let our churches become a marketplace.

When Jesus speaks of the temple being destroyed, the Jews understand what He says as referring to the temple building.  The building is important. 

Think of the temple described in Ezekiel’s vision in the first reading.  Ezekiel saw water flowing out of the temple, water that fed the creatures along the river that flowed from the temple.  That which received the waters from the temple flourished and bore fruit.

We need to come to church to receive the living waters.  God is present everywhere but He is present in a special way in our church buildings.  When we come to Mass, we are fed with God’s Word and the Eucharist.  The Third Commandment to “keep the Sabbath holy” calls us to church every Sunday.  I’m betting you don’t wait for your cellphone to go dead before you charge it.  Most people charge their cellphone every day.  Your soul needs a regular charge each week at Mass.

While the Jews thought Jesus was speaking of the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus was speaking of his body.

Do you realize that “You are God’s building.”  Do you realize you are a temple of God where the Holy Spirit dwells, called to be holy?  Do you treat your body as holy or are you more concerned with pleasures of the flesh?

To be holy we need Jesus Christ to be our foundation.

To be holy we need to come to church.  We need to see “church” as more than just a building.  It starts with the church buildings where we gather for worship but the point of church in this sense is the gathering of the people.

The people form a parish but not just a parish.  We are part of a diocese under our bishop.  We are part of a worldwide church lead by our pope rooted in Jesus Christ and led by the Holy Spirit. 

We are a church that begin in the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side on the Cross (see John 19:33-34).  We are a church led by the Holy Spirit.  We are a church given a mission by Jesus to take the gospel message out to the world (see Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:19-20). 

I want to emphasize “we” because each and every one of you is part of the church.  You have a share in fulfilling our mission as “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”