Sunday 9 November 2025
The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12. The waters of the river gladden the city of God – Ps 45(46):2-3, 5-6, 8-9. 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17. John 2:13-22.
Christ is our foundation
At different times in my life, I have wandered through this brilliant basilica and marvelled at the inscription in Latin on the façade: ‘Of all churches in the city and the world, the Mother and the Head.’ Its story begins soon after the Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313AD officially ending Roman persecution of the Church. It was built on Lateran family land and dedicated to Christ the Saviour. Thus, today’s feast is really a Feast of Christ, and that despite the basilica being dedicated at different times to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. St Paul reminds the Corinthians in today’s reading, ‘no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; and that foundation is Jesus Christ’. It is not just the building we marvel at, it is the total foundation of Christ that supports it, and we are built on that foundation.
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