Ordinary Time: November 9th

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MASS READINGS

November 09, 2022 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica: O God, who from living and chosen stones prepare an eternal dwelling for your majesty, increase in your Church the spirit of grace you have bestowed, so that by new growth your faithful people may build up the heavenly Jerusalem. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

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Recipes (10)

• Bread of the Dead
• Bury Simnel Cake
• Dry Bones Cookies
• Easy Simnel Cake
• Kahlua Cake
• Shrewsbury Simnel Cake
• Simnel Cake I
• Simnel Cake II
• Simnel Cake III
• Simnel Cake V

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Activities (5)

• November and the Holy Souls
• Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November
• Religion in the Home for Elementary School: November
• Religion in the Home for Preschool: November
• Teaching Children About Sickness and Death

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Prayers (6)

• November Devotion: The Holy Souls in Purgatory
• Little Litany of the Holy Souls
• Prayer for Pope Francis
• Prayer for Troops
• Prayer for a Happy Death
• Daily Acceptance of Death

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Library (1)

• Mother Church of the World | Fr. Joseph Minihan

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Blog & Podcasts (1)

• Feastday Highlights: Dedication of St. John Lateran

» Enjoy our Liturgical Seasons series of e-books!

Entrance Antiphon

Behold God’s dwelling with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people, and God himself with them will be their God.

Gospel Verse, 2 Chr 7:16:

I have chosen and consecrated this house, says the Lord, that my name may be there forever.

Gospel Excerpt, Jn 2:13-22:

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. 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, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

Preface: The Mystery of the Church, the Bride of Christ and the Temple of the Spirit:

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For in your benevolence you are pleased
to dwell in this house of prayer
in order to perfect us as the temple of the Holy Spirit,
supported by the perpetual help of your grace
and resplendent with the glory of a life acceptable to you.
Year by year you sanctify the Church, the Bride of Christ,
foreshadowed in visible buildings,
so that, rejoicing as the mother of countless children,
she may be given her place in your heavenly glory.

And so, with Angels and Saints,
we praise you, as without end we acclaim:

Communion Antiphon, Cf. 1 Pt 2:5:

Be built up like living stones, into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the oldest and highest ranking of the four major basilicas in Rome. The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, the official ecclesiastical seat of the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, not St. Peter's Basilica as so many mistakenly believe. The Basilica is also called the Church of Holy Savior or the Church of St. John Baptist. In ancient Rome this was the church where everyone was baptized. It the oldest church in the West, built in the time of Constantine and was consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324. This feast became a universal celebration in honor of the archbasilica, the ecclesiastical mother church, called "the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world" (omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput), as a sign of love for and union with the See of Peter.

The Temple of Stones is a Symbol of the Living Church
Today the liturgy celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, called “mother and head of all the churches of the city and the world.” In fact, this basilica was the first to be built after Emperor Constantine’s edict, in 313, granted Christians freedom to practice their religion.

The emperor himself gave Pope Miltiades the ancient palace of the Laterani family, and the basilica, the baptistery, and the patriarchate, that is, the Bishop of Rome’s residence — where the Popes lived until the Avignon period — were all built there. The basilica’s dedication was celebrated by Pope Sylvester around 324 and was named Most Holy Savior; only after the 6th century were the names of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist added, and now is typically denominated by these latter.

Initially the observance of this feast was confined to the city of Rome; then, beginning in 1565, it was extended to all the Churches of the Roman rite. The honoring of this sacred edifice was a way of expressing love and veneration for the Roman Church, which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch says, “presides in charity” over the whole Catholic communion (Letter to the Romans, 1:1).

On this solemnity the Word of God recalls an essential truth: the temple of stones is a symbol of the living Church, the Christian community, which in their letters the Apostles Peter and Paul already understood as a “spiritual edifice,” built by God with “living stones,” namely, Christians themselves, upon the one foundation of Jesus Christ, who is called the “cornerstone” (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; 1 Peter 2:4-8; Ephesians 2:20-22). “Brothers, you are God’s building,” St. Paul wrote, and added: “holy is God’s temple, which you are” (1 Corinthians 3:9c, 17).

The beauty and harmony of the churches, destined to give praise to God, also draws us human beings, limited and sinful, to convert to form a “cosmos,” a well-ordered structure, in intimate communion with Jesus, who is the true Saint of saints. This happens in a culminating way in the Eucharistic liturgy, in which the “ecclesia,” that is, the community of the baptized, come together in a unified way to listen to the Word of God and nourish themselves with the Body and Blood of Christ. From these two tables the Church of living stones is built up in truth and charity and is internally formed by the Holy Spirit transforming herself into what she receives, conforming herself more and more to the Lord Jesus Christ. She herself, if she lives in sincere and fraternal unity, in this way becomes the spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God.

Dear friends, today’s feast celebrates a mystery that is always relevant: God’s desire to build a spiritual temple in the world, a community that worships him in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23-24). But this observance also reminds us of the importance of the material buildings in which the community gathers to celebrate the praises of God. Every community therefore has the duty to take special care of its own sacred buildings, which are a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this we call upon the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that she help us to become, like her, the “house of God,” living temple of his love.

—Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, November 9, 2008

Things to Do:

• Learn more about St. John Lateran.

• See the official website of the archbasilica.

• Read more about the Church of Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano

• This basilica represents the place of baptism, so it would be a good time to renew your baptismal promises.

• It also represents heaven, so we can meditate on the joys of heaven and God's generosity in giving us sufficient graces to be saved.

• Since St. John Lateran is the Pope's church, say a prayer for our Holy Father.

• To celebrate with food, bake a bundt cake, maybe using a "cathedral pan" to remind us of the church structure.

• From the Catholic Culture Library: Mother Church of the World.