HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

The Dedication of the Saint John Lateran Basilica (Year C)

Nov 9, 2025

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of Maccabees (7:1-2, 9-14)

It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king, to force them to eat pork in violation of God's law.

One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said: "What do you expect to achieve by questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors."

At the point of death the second brother said: "You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. It is for his laws that we are dying."

After him the third brother suffered their cruel sport. He put out his tongue at once when told to do so, and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words: "It was from Heaven and that I received these; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again." Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man's courage, because he regarded his suffering as nothing.

After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way. When he was near death, he said, "It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life."

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (17:1, 5-6, 8, 15)

(R) Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hear, O Lord, a just cause; attend to my outcry; listen to my prayer from lips without deceit. (R)

My steps had been steadfast in your paths, my feet have not faltered. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. (R)

Keep me as the pupil of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. But I in justice shall behold your face; on waking I shall be content in your presence. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians (2:16-3:5)

Brothers and sisters: May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread quickly and be glorified, as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful; he will strength you and guard you from the evil one. We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (20:27-38)

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this questions to Jesus, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, "If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother." Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.

Jesus said to them, "The children of this age take wives and husbands; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

When a Catholic community celebrates the anniversary of the dedication of its local church it holds profound meaning and sentimental value. It serves to strengthen bonds among members, reinforce a shared sense of purpose and identity, and instil a deep sense of respect and reverence for their place of worship and gathering. Today, we celebrate the feast of the dedication of not our local church, St Peter's, nor our diocesan Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in the Hong Kong island, but St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome. Why do we celebrate the dedication of this church which is thousands of miles away from here and that too on a Sunday, superseding the liturgy for the Lord's Day? What is so special about this church? What does the celebration have to do with our Christian faith?

It's undeniable that learning or studying or understanding the history of anything or anyone is relevant, meaningful, and important for many reasons. It helps us to know who we are, where we came from and where we are going. Much the same way, commemoration of events, persons, or divine acts, from the Bible and Church history, such as the dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome, helps us reconnect with the past, to better understand the basis for our belief and become aware of the continuity of our faith through generations.

The Latin word "basilica" comes from a Greek term "basilike stoa" meaning "royal portico" or "royal house". In ancient Rome, basilicas were large, public buildings used for legal, business, and administrative purposes, not religious functions. But since the declaration of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the early fourth century, a basilica has come to mean a church building that has been accorded a special status and privileges by the Pope in recognition of its historical, architectural, or liturgical significance. There are two kinds of such basilicas - major and minor. There are four major basilicas, also known as papal basilicas, and all are in Rome. They are St. Peter's Basilica, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. John Lateran. And there are around 1,900 minor basilicas around the world, as of today.

Saint John Lateran stands on one of the seven hills upon which the ancient city of Rome was built. The name Lateran comes from a family named "Laterani" that owned a palace on the hill, which later on, was donated to Saint Melchiades, the pope at the time, who turned it into a church and residence for popes. Pope Sylvester who succeeded Pope Melchiades, dedicated the church to Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. Therefore, the church is called Saint John Lateran Basilica. Popes lived in the Lateran palace until the papal seat was transferred to Avignon in France, during pope Clement V in 1309, and then after the return of the Pope Gregory XI to Rome in 1377, started to live at the Vatican and so did his successors.

Since Saint John Lateran Basilica was one of the first churches established by the Roman Emperor Constantine, it is considered as the "mother and head of all churches", the cathedral church of the diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the pope as the bishop of Rome. By celebrating the dedication of this physical church, we, first and foremost, show our connection with one another in the Universal Church and our love and respect for the pope, currently Pope Leo XIV, who presides as Vicar of Christ, Servant of the Servants of God, Supreme Pontiff, and Successor of St. Peter, and renew our commitment to obedience and faithfulness to the teachings of the Church, even when personal agreement is difficult. The celebration also reminds us that we have received our faith in Jesus Christ through the apostles and the successors of the apostles and that we are saved not "by our own efforts and works", Ephesians (2:8-9), but rather by God's grace through faith in Jesus as well as collective efforts and prayers of people across time. That's why in the profession of faith after professing our faith in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we profess that we believe in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ.

However, the church is not just a physical building; it is a community of believers who come together to worship and serve God. In today's second reading, 1 Corinthians (3:9c-11, 16-17), St. Paul calls us, believers, both individually and collectively, as "God's building" and as "God's Temple" to emphasize that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and we are a spiritual structure built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This means that we, both the individual believers and the community of faith, are holy places and spiritual, living entities, not a physical structure. Therefore, Paul reminds us that we have a responsibility to contribute to the growth and development of the Church and our own spiritual maturity, avoiding divisive behaviour and corrupt actions that would destroy or defile it. If not, Paul warns us that God would destroy us. Paul's warning against causing division or harming the church underscores the seriousness of offending a Christian community that serves as God's dwelling place, an action that invites divine judgment.

While Paul teaches us that we become the dwelling place of God's Spirit through our union with Christ, Jesus points to his own body as the new, true and ultimate temple of God in John's Gospel which we read today, John (2:13-22). Jesus does not explicitly say, "I am the temple." Rather, he uses symbolic language. He made the declaration during the Passover of the Jews when he was confronted by the sight of people selling animals for sacrifice and professional money changers operating in the temple courtyard in Jerusalem. He perceived these activities, which often involved exploitation and commercialization of worship, as a desecration of his Father's house.

Then, recalling the Old Testament scriptures from Isaiah (56:7) and Jeremiah (7:11), He condemned them for turning the temple, a sacred ground, into "a marketplace" and "a den of thieves", Matthew (21:12-13), drove them all out of the temple and said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." Here, Jesus was referring figuratively to his own body as the temple and his resurrection three days after his crucifixion and death, which is central to our faith. By making this declaration, Jesus asserted that He, not the physical building in Jerusalem, was the new temple and the true dwelling place of God.

There is a story about a grandmother and her two little grandchildren who used to walk to church together each Sunday. As they neared the church, they would always have this interesting little conversation. It went like this: The kids would say: "Hey, grandma, there's our church up ahead." And the grandma would always reply, "No, that's not our church." "But it is, grandma, that is our church; that's where we go every Sunday," the kids would persist. "No," grandma would reply, "our church is underneath that church; that's the real church we belong to."

This story prompts us to rethink our own notion of what a church is all about. While most Christian communities use dedicated church buildings for worship and spiritual activities, some utilize alternative venues like school halls, community centres, or even commercial spaces. Regardless of its nature, size, design, or historical context, we Catholics should consider a church as a house of worship and a place dedicated to God, and therefore, treat it with respect and appropriate reverence. Our church, St. Peter's, is housed in a commercial building. We converted a simple and ordinary room into a beautiful chapel/church and dedicated it on March 3, 2018. This is our spiritual home where we gather for worship, sacraments, fellowship, and prayer.

Today's feast is a reminder of the importance and value of our church. It's an opportunity to give thanks to God for the generosity of our community and believers from around the world, and for those who continue to provide for our church's needs. Let us praise God for the many blessings He has given to those who come to worship Him here. Let us not take it for granted, but continue to cherish it by maintaining reverence through silence and behaviour in a manner that creates an atmosphere for prayer, reflection and worship, actively participating in its life and mission, especially the ministry for seafarers, serving others using God-given gifts, including natural talents, financial resources, and specifically, spiritual gifts, like wisdom, teaching, mercy, and hospitality, and deepening our fellowship with others, 1 Peter (4:10). Let us come together to make our church truly a basilica, a "royal house" for God and His people.

This is our church. It is composed of people just like you and me, sharing common human conditions of being sinners and having weaknesses. It is not a gathering of perfect individuals, but a community of imperfect people who come together in faith and a shared need for grace. Therefore, if we want our church to be welcoming, friendly, generous, devout, and all other things that we want our church to be, then each of us must actively practice being welcoming, friendly, generous, devout, and other things. At the same time, as baptized members of Christ's Body, let us strive to be a "spiritual house" or "God's temple," with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. In other words, our own lives should reflect God's presence and purpose, making us living witnesses to faith in the world.

In today's first reading from the Book of Ezekiel (47:1-2, 8-9, 12), we see a powerful vision of a river flowing from God's temple - starting as a trickle and becoming a mighty river that brings life wherever it flows. The essence of our mission as followers of Christ is to make this vison a reality. We are to take the life-giving presence of God into the hard and lifeless areas of our world. Therefore, let us, today, as a community and individuals, rededicate ourselves and strive to be a source of life, healing, and hope for everyone we encounter inside and outside the church.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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