Lateran Basilica Dedication Feast -Year C - Sunday, 9 November 2025 (EPISODE: 555)
Readings for Lateran Basilica Dedication Feast- Year C
FIRST READING: Ezek 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
Ps 46:1-2, 4-5, 7-8. "The waters of the river gladden the city of God."
SECOND READING: 1 Cor 3:9b-11, 16-17
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (2 Chronicles 7:16). Alleluia, alleluia! I have chosen and sacntified this house, says the Lord, that my name may remain in it for all time.
GOSPEL: John 2:13-22
https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/4pLo66et9NUHhOan9Z9R?ru=Paul-Evangelion
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Please listen to the audio-recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for Lateran Basilica Dedication Feast Year C - Sunday, 9 November 2025 - by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ep-555-the
(EPISODE: 555)
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The Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, 9th of November. The Lateran Basilica, the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, was dedicated to Christ the Saviour in the 4th century. The anniversary has been celebrated as a feast of the Latin Church on this day since the 12th century. It honours the local Church of Rome and its link with the earliest Christian traditions and as a sign of our communion in Christ.
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One of the unexpected highlights of a pilgrimage that I took to Rome in 2007 was a guided tour of what was called the first of all churches in the Catholic Church, John Lateran Cathedral. On the front of the door was inscribed Latin words which translate as most holy Lateran church of all the churches in the city and the world, the mother and head.
Wow, a very profound claim. Many may be forgiven for thinking that St. Peter's Basilica was the mother church, I certainly did at one point of my life, but it definitely is not St. Peter's that is the mother church, it's St. John Lateran which we celebrate on this feast day today. It's the church we celebrate in this special feast, a feast so important that when it lands on a Sunday, it overrides the usual Sunday readings, which does not happen for most feast days, only really important ones such as last week's feast of all souls and this week's feast of John Lateran.
The church now known as John Lateran, actually it has two co-patrons because it has been dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at different times in its history, actually has its official name and head patron as Christ himself. The official title of this church is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior. So we start to see why this feast is so important, it's regarded as a feast day of Christ our Savior.
Emperor Constantine gave this land to the church as residence of the Pope and for a church in around 312 AD and it was officially dedicated in 324. It has undergone many changes but is regarded as the seat of the Bishop of Rome, thus symbolizing the seat of the Bishop and the mother church of the Universal Church. It ranks in importance over all other churches, even St. Peter's Basilica.
This was the very first Christian church built in the west, the first church built when Christianity was no longer outlawed or underground, just trying to survive. So this first church presented a new challenge to the newly legalized early Christian church. What kind of building should a public church of worship for Christ be like? They did not want to build something that was like the Roman temples which were beautiful outside and designed to be looked at by people from the outside and fairly empty on the inside, with usually just a statue of some Roman or Greek god or goddess.
The early Christian church wanted to distance itself quite strongly from comparisons with temples of pagans. Also, Christianity needed large public spaces for people to gather and also room for different spaces where people at different stages of initiation could come, somewhat apart from others until they're joined together in the initiation ceremony. Thus, the early Christians looked around for similar buildings and decided that the closest in practical style to what they were looking for were the Roman public buildings of the time, the basilicas, which were enormous spaces for public civic gatherings, which could allow for different subspaces within for people to gather as well.
The church deliberately went the opposite way to pagan temples and rightly so. The Christian churches were plain and ordinary looking on the outside and beautiful and inspiring within. This church of John Latron was originally built as a temple to the god who enabled victory for the Roman emperor Constantine, and there has always been a sense of victory about this church.
This is why it was dedicated to Christ, the saviour. This church symbolises Christianity coming out of the shadows and now standing openly as a publicly accepted and victorious presence in the community, a shining example of Christ's love for all the world. The church has been rebuilt and extended many times.
The most significant change was the which large columns were built, and in between the columns were placed huge statues of the twelve apostles, as if to say that just as these statues form part of the support beams of the church, so too the apostles are the support pillars on which Jesus has built his spiritual church. The main altar is built over relics of the original wooden altar, which Saint Peter and Paul are believed to have celebrated mass, and above the altar is an ornate covered canopy called a baldacchino, with golden statues of Peter and Paul which are actually reliquies containing fragments of the skulls of Saints Peter and Paul. So mass on this altar occurs in the midst of these symbols of the church's history.
The bishop's chair, the seat of the which is the chair of the Pope, is in an apse directly behind the altar. This chair is a symbol of the bishop's pastoral care and oversight of the diocese of Rome, and therefore his role as universal pastor to the churches throughout the world, which are all in communion with him, and therefore with God and the whole universal church. Back in 2007 we got to celebrate mass in the chapel of the baptistry of Saint John Lateran.
This was a special blessing for us, and it was very meaningful. We started mass with a renewal of our baptismal promises in this baptistry at the Catholic Church's mother church, representing baptisms all over the world. I prayed then as we continue to pray now for parishioners, family and friends, and for the universal church, Christ's church to which we all belong, and it's beautiful.
It's wonderful to belong to something much, much bigger than what we can see, bigger than our own selves. It's excellent that all the local Catholic church communities spread throughout the world are also at the same time in communion with the universal church, represented by the unity we share with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. It reminds us that we are truly part of a bigger picture, and we act in union with the church.
We're both local and universal. The two cannot be separated. Because we belong to a wider communion, we act in the knowledge that we are both local and universal in our membership.
This is why we're careful to ensure that the necessary local flavour of our community here also always synchronises with what we share in common with the wider universal church and its actions. It's so moving to be part of a communion that grounds us in the here and now, and at the same time calls us to look outward and upward into the worldwide mission of Christ's church. This feast we share, of course, is not really about a building, bricks and stones that is, although this is a focal point for prayer and presence.
But we know from the Jesus is the true temple, and we are all bricks in the fabric of Christ. We are part of the body of Christ, a living body, the church. St Paul tells us too that the temple is the church, the gathered body of Christians, the body of Christ.
Each of us is a living stone, building up the church on the foundations of Jesus. Today's feast is as much a celebration of a magnificent physical structure, but even more so as our unity as Christians in the church. We also celebrate our vocation to stay focused on the church's mission, which is the building up of the kingdom of God.
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References:
FR. PAUL W. KELLY – including pilgrimage notes 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._John_Lateran
Prepare the Word (internet service)
IMAGE: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/4pLo66et9NUHhOan9Z9R?ru=Paul-Evangelion
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Lateran Basilica Dedication Feast Year C -(Sunday, 9 November 2025) (EPISODE: 555 )
1. The Lord be with you.
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{{Peace and Patience to you all}} welcome everyone, we gather - Reflect upon the Holy Scriptures and the values of the Lord. On this Lateran Basilica Dedication Feast
Brothers and sisters, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the Lord's supper, let us recall our sins and acknowledge them in silence.
You raise the dead to life in the Spirit. Lord, have mercy You bring pardon and peace to the sinner. Christ, have mercy You bring light to those in darkness. Lord, have mercy
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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Ps 46:1-2, 4-5, 7-8. "The waters of the river gladden the city of God."
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (2 Chronicles 7:16). ). Alleluia, alleluia! I have chosen and sacntified this house, says the Lord, that my name may remain in it for all time.
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PREFACE:
Eucharistic Prayer 4
(theme variation: theme 2 )
(post version: v2-long)
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{16. I pray this week brings you an ever deeper experience of Our Lord's compassion and love}
2. Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com
To listen to the weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks
You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by visting here:
Details relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.
Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'. E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993). (Sydney Australia).
Sung "Mass in Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.
"Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - In memory of William John Kelly (1942-2017) - Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.
"Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: - Shure Motiv MV5 Digital Condenser. And (2024+) Rode Nt-1 + AI-1 Sound Mixer.
Editing equipment: -- MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software v10.49 (NCH Software).
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 17.63 (NCH Software)
Sound Processing: iZotope RX 10 Audio Editor (Izotope Inc.)
Text transcription as per recorded podcast version is transcribed by TurboScribe.ai
{excellent and accurate transcription from voice to text}
[Production - KER - 2025]
May God bless and keep you.
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