Fr. Foeckler’s Lecture Note- Nov 11th, 2025

[Michaela]

Fr. Foeckler’s Lecture Note Nov 11th, 2025

 

Last Sunday was the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, which is also a very important feast day coming one week after All Souls Day, Nov 2nd.

 

That church is the most important church of the world. It serves as the seat of the bishop of Rome and head of the worldwide Catholic Church, the pope. This is the first basilica that was built in Rome. It is the only archbasilica in the world. The mother and head of all the churches in Rome as well as all the churches in the world. Dedicated to Christ the Savior, in honor of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, the place name “Lateran”, comes from an ancient Roman family, whose palace grounds occupied the site. The adjacent Lateran Palace was the primary residence of the pope until the Middle Ages. The church is the oldest of the four major papal basilicas, and it is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. Founded in 324, it is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, and the oldest basilica in the Western world. It houses the cathedra of the Roman bishop, and it has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Catholic faithful.

 

When we say the word, church, which is “ecclesia” in Greek, it doesn’t actually mean the building but congregation. In the Sat reading of the Letter to Romans, Prisca and Aquila, couple who worked together with St. Paul, greeted the church at their home. In apostolic days, church means people, and church meetings usually celebrated at homes. The church means gathering of faithful, which is “ecclesia” in Greek.

 

324 AD, 3 years after Constantine allowed Christianism, the church Lateran Basilica in Rome was built. In Judaism, the most important thing is the temple. All the different aspect is following what Moses saw in the covenant from God. Temple is where God dwells for people.

 

In the 4th century, many pagans become Christians, and most of them are gentiles. Christians took the idea of temple, made church. We have an altar, in our churches, and sacrifice was made, but not a bloody one. This becomes the heart of church. Many old churches made in the form of a cross. In the architecture of the churches, the altar locates where the Jesus’s head is.

 

Gospel of the Sunday.

 

Gospel

John 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.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
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.

 

Jesus’s cleansing of the temple. This story shows up early in St. John’s gospel. The temple we hear about is what Maccabees consecrated. King Herod, who was half Jew, wanted to give favor to Jews, rebuilt the temple, which took 46 years to make. When Jesus said he would rebuilt the temple in 3 days, He meant His body. Nobody realized what He meant even the apostles, who realized the meaning after His resurrection.

 

1st reading

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12

The angel brought me
back to the entrance of the temple,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the southern side.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

 

Underneath its side, there flows fresh water. There are fruit trees, which bear fruits once in every 12 month. Arabah is called Death Sea in English, but the water from the river flows into Arabah makes it living water.

 

In the gospel, Jesus called His own body, temple. “Destroy this temple” meant His crucifixion. Upon His crucifixion, the apostle remembered what He had said 3 yrs ago.

 

St. John 7:38

Come to me and drink, within Him living water flow within Him.

After Jesus died, they wanted to take His body down. Roman soldiers wanted make sure, break others legs, but upon coming to Jesus

 

From the wound of His side, flows blood and water. (St. John): Living water flowed from the temple. Lateran Basilica. Lateran is the name of the family who donated the basilica, and the world Lateran means the side. This can mean that the name of the church translated as “The Side Basilica.”

 

St. Paul to the Corinthians.

 

1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17

Brothers and sisters:
You are God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

 

You are the building, you are the temple of God.

 

<Sorry I left early.>

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