The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

11-09-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh lorchir, VC

The 9th of November is set aside by the Church to celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. This church, considered the mother of all churches in the world, is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome also known as the Pope, it is the oldest and highest ranking of the four major Basilicas in Rome and is the only church in the world that holds the title of “archbasilica.” St John Lateran, the oldest public Church in the west, was built by Emperor Constantine and dedicated to Christ the Savior in 32AD, but was later rededicated to include St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist. This year, the feast of this mother of all churches falls on a Sunday and so the Readings of the feast shall take the place of the Readings of the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time.

In the First Reading, the Prophet Ezekiel reports a vision of water flowing from the altar in the Temple of God “and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.” Ezekiel further reports that apart from changing the salt water of the sea into that which flows to fresh water. The waters that flow out from the sanctuary of the Temple becomes a habitat for life that multiplies into abundance, giving nourishment to fruit trees that grow on its banks, trees that bear fruits every month and whose fruits serve as food and its leaves can be used as medicine. This vision of the Temple can best be interpreted as Ezekiel’s vision of the futuristic Christ’s Church from which flows life-giving sacraments that would produce effective life-changing blessings.

Paul in the Second Reading described each Christian as God’s building, the Temple of the Holy Spirit built on the foundation of Christ. He warned against the destruction of this Temple of God with sin so as not to incur the wrath of God.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus demonstrated zeal for His Father’s House (the Temple in Jerusalem), an act that served as a prefiguration of respect for the Temple of God’s Holy Spirit which our bodies are. He was in the Temple and realized to his dismay that people were using the Temple which should be a place of worship and prayer as a marketplace for business transactions of many kinds. In a rare display of righteous anger, Jesus made a whip out of chords and chased the money lenders and their likes out of the Temple. As hinted by Ezekiel and Paul in the First and Second Readings respectively, the Temple of God can be seen as the Church of Christ symbolized by our place of worship as well as our individual selves which are made in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb. Reverence and respect for our places of worship is the first lesson that the Feast of the Lateran Basilica invites us to take. When we criss cross the perimeters of the Church building without any act of reverence, when we congregate in small numbers within the church building to socialize before or a[ er Mass distracting those who want to pray, when some people are on their phones texting or seeking entertainment during Mass, we are demonstrating irreverence for God’s Holy Temple.

Since our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and since the Spirit of God abhors sin and falsehood, the Feast of the Lateran Basilica also invites us to conduct an honest introspection in order to establish the state of holiness of this Temple. God is Holy and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. A visit to the confessional for the sacrament of reconciliation can go a long way in restoring God’s Temple to its desired state.

May the Holy Spirit of God never desert His Temple on account of our irreverence and sin. May churches all over the world be places of encounter between God and His people, and may all who come to God through His church experience tremendous positive change after encountering God’s love through us.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC