Dear friends in Christ,
On the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Year C (November 08, 2025), I bring you greetings and God’s blessings!
Theme: Our Unity, Our Catholicity
Introduction
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. The initiative began in 313 when Emperor Constantine granted freedom of worship to the Catholic Church. However, it became a worldwide celebration in 1565. The first reading details that the temple overflows with life-giving water. The second confirms that the faithful are God’s temple. This message is amplified in the gospel as the temple becomes a metaphor for Jesus’ death on the Cross.
Review of the Readings
In the first reading (Ez. 47:1-2, 8-9, 12), the Prophet Ezekiel sees the vision of water flowing from the Temple. This water miraculously saves all creatures who encounter it – it refreshes and gives life for fruit-bearing.
St. Paul in the second reading (1 Cor. 3:9-11, 16-17) argues that the faithful are God’s temple founded on Christ. He contends that the Holy Spirit dwells in the elect and concludes that if anyone destroys God’s holy temple, God will destroy them.
The gospel (John 2:13-22) presents Jesus overtaken by righteous anger. He drives the money-changers and extortioners who had changed his father’s house into an unholy merchandise. He underlines that he would destroy the temple and build it in three days after being asked for a sign.
Takeaway Lessons
- In a world where 17 countries, including Nigeria, my home country, constitute the most egregious religious freedom violators according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, we are charged to pray for religious freedom while urging Christian politicians to ensure protective legislation.
- This feast reminds us about our unity and catholicity as marks of the true Church established by Christ on apostolic foundations, with assurances that the gates of hell will never hold out against it (Matthew 16:18).
- Like the temple which flows with refreshing waters, the water and blood which flowed from the side of Christ (Cf. John 3:5; 4:14; 7:38) remind us about being washed in the waters of baptism and fed with the Eucharistic meal as pilgrims of hope journeying to our eternal home.
- The Pauline theology of the body that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit urges us to embrace bodily purity, bearing in mind the consecration of the human person from the womb to the tomb – an obligation to protect life at all levels.
- Pastors of souls are urged to be wary of simony or commercialising religion, but instead, draw people to true religion – worship of God in truth and in spirit (Cf. John 4:24).
Conclusion
As a visible sign of the Church’s unity, today’s celebration calls to mind the four marks of the Church—One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. As we preserve the “temple” of our body, may we respect the unity of the church and the integrity of all churches under the vicar of Christ, the Roman Pontiff. May our baptism in Christ embolden us to be courageous witnesses and truly a eucharistic people. Have a blessed week!
