In 2025, instead of the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, this coming Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. 

¹³ Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. ¹⁵ He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, ¹⁶ and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” ¹⁷ His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸ At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ²² Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. (John 2:13-22)

The First Reading-Gospel Connection

The gospel recounts Jesus driving out the money changers from the temple and declaring: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” In its own immediate context, Jesus’ words point to the Resurrection as the “rebuilding” of the Temple, not as a physical building but a spiritual reality in which Jesus is the new temple—the dwelling place of God. In New Testament theology St. Paul describes this as the “Body of Christ,” the physical and spiritual reality where God dwells in Christ as the Head and in the Church as the Body. 

On the feast of the Lateran Basilica, the mother church of all churches, this reading reminds the faithful that the Church is not just a building but the Body of Christ, the true temple, and the Church is where His presence dwells.

Ezekiel’s vision of water flowing from the temple, paired with this Gospel on this Feast, points to the life-giving grace flowing from God’s presence as a source of healing and renewal for the world. It describes a restored creation through divine presence – the mission of the Church in all ages.

Ezekiel 47	John 2:13–22
Water flows from the temple, bringing life to the land.	Jesus is the new temple, from whom living water (grace, salvation) flows
The temple is the source of healing and abundance.	Jesus’ body becomes the source of eternal life and healing through His death and resurrection.
God’s presence returns to the temple.	God’s presence is now fully revealed in Christ.

The temple of Ezekiel’s vision is Christ, and through Him, the Church becomes the living temple of God. As the mother church of Christendom, the Lateran Basilica stands as a sacramental sign of this reality. It is not just a monument of stone, but a living symbol of the Church universal, where Christ is present, and from which the waters of baptism, Eucharist, and mission flow.