OMELIE / Omelie EN

09 nov 2025

09/11/2025 - Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

09/11/2025 - Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

in Italy, also Thanksgiving Day

First reading Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 from Ps 94 Second reading 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17 Gospel Jn 2:13-22

Today, Christian communities in Italy give thanks to the Father for all his blessings, especially for the fruits of the earth and the harvests of the countryside. This attitude of gratitude is typical of Christians, who are accustomed to celebrating the Eucharist every Sunday, or every day, as thanksgiving to God for his fatherhood, for the Son whom the Father sent us, and for the Holy Spirit whom he poured out upon us.

At the end of the harvest of the earth's produce, it is right and good to come together to give thanks also for the material things with which we can sustain our lives and our families. In some places, drought or too much rain have caused crops to fail, but despite this, we give thanks. The Father knows the reason for events that can test the faith and patience of his children. We thank him because he is our Father nonetheless.

Gratitude keeps our hearts open to those brothers and sisters who have even less than we do and suffer poverty, misery or hunger. Praise and glory to God, also because bread and wine, the fruit of the earth and of God's blessing on human labour, presented on the altar, become the Body and Blood of his Son, nourishment for us and our sacrifice acceptable to him!

Today, the whole Roman Church offers special thanks to God for the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. It is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome and is therefore considered the mother of all churches. It is a precious opportunity to give thanks for the ministry of the Pope and for the Church over which he presides, the first of all. However, the celebration of the building becomes a stimulus to reflect on realities far greater than the building itself, more interior and spiritual.

Ezekiel's vision introduces our meditation. From under the threshold on the right side of the temple, water flows out, increasing and reaching the sea, the lifeless sea. When this water arrives, the sea water is healed and becomes the ideal environment for fish and for the trees that grow on its banks. These will bear fruit every month, and even their leaves will be medicine for men. If the water flows out from the right side, how can we not think of the water that flowed from Jesus' heart when he was pierced on his right side? He is life and health for all men and all peoples! He is the true temple, which God uses to give us life and health!

The Apostle Paul speaks of a temple built by us. He urges us to be careful that we do not build in vain, that we do not labour uselessly. And so we will be careful about the foundations. The sure foundation on which to build the whole edifice is Jesus Christ. There is no doubt about that. If anyone builds on the reasoning of men, however wise they may seem, they labour in vain. We will listen to Jesus, obey him, follow him, and then our lives will be built securely for eternity. With him at the foundation, we will be the temple of God, the place where everyone can encounter the love of the Father, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and the peace that is Jesus himself.

That we ourselves are God's temple is a serious matter. To become so and then continue to live in a manner befitting this truth, we will remain attentive to Jesus.

Today's Gospel shows us how seriously Jesus takes the building of the temple, the one rebuilt by Herod, the king whom everyone feared, but into which all the people enter to praise God and offer their sacrifices. It is of this temple that it was said that it would be a “house of prayer” for all peoples. When Jesus arrives, his disappointment is great. It has become a marketplace: there are those who sell animals to be offered in sacrifice, there are those who buy them, there are those who exchange currency. These transactions should be carried out outside the temple, in other places. Instead, they are taking place right here. Jesus is seized with great zeal, and with peace he makes a whip and confidently uses it on the animals. He drives them all out. What is happening in this holy place does not help prayer, and makes the temple itself an environment that makes one think that God is a merchant, not a Father.

Jesus knows that the temple itself is not important, but it is still prophecy and revelation. It is prophecy for him, the true place where God meets men with the fullness of his love. It is a revelation of the Father's love that animates God's heart. But if it is reduced to a marketplace, it damages and discredits its main purpose.

Let us reflect on these insights when we enter every church, every place built by the faith and love of the faithful. They are only buildings, but they play an important role in our faith and in the charity that brings us together with our brothers and sisters who worship the Lord and serve him with love.

That is why today we joyfully celebrate the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the first of all churches.