papal basilica

by

Saturday, 18 November 2023 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Wisdom 18 : 14-16 and Wisdom 19 : 6-9

While all was in quiet silence and the night was in the middle of its course, Your Almighty Word leapt down from the royal throne – a stern Warrior to a doomed world. Carrying Your fearful command like a sharpened sword and stretching from heaven to earth, He filled the universe with death.

All creation in its different forms was fashioned anew at Your command, in order to protect Your people. The cloud covered the camp with its shadow, dry land emerged where water had been. A safe passage was opened through the Red Sea, the tempestuous flood became a green plain where the whole nation of those protected by Your hand passed across, witnessing Your astounding deeds.

They were like horses led to pasture, or like frolicking lambs, praising You, their Lord, Who had delivered them.

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul)

Acts 28 : 11-16, 30-31

After three months, we boarded a ship that had spent the winter at the island. It belonged to an Alexandrian company, and carried the figurehead of Castor and Pollux as insignia. We sailed for Syracuse, staying there for three days; and, after circling the coast, we arrived at Rhegium.

On the following day, a south wind began to blow, and, at the end of two days, we arrived at Puteoli, where we found some of our brothers, who invited us to stay with them for a week. And that was how we came to Rome. There, the brothers and sisters had been informed of our arrival, and came out to meet us as far as the Appian Forum and the Three Taverns.

When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and took courage. Upon our arrival in Rome, the captain turned the prisoners over to the military governor, but permitted Paul to lodge in a private house, with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul stayed for two whole years, in a house he, himself, rented, where he received, without any hindrance, all those who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God, and taught the truth about Jesus Christ, the Lord, quite openly and without any hindrance.

by

Thursday, 9 November 2023 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the joyful occasion of the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which is the most important of all the churches in the whole entire world, being the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and hence is the seat of the Pope as its Bishop and leader of the whole Universal Church. This Lateran Basilica is the place where the Cathedra or the seat of the bishop, in this case, for the Pope, is placed at, and hence, why the Lateran Basilica is the Cathedral of the Pope. Since the Cathedral of the diocese is Mother Church of the whole diocese, and Rome is the seat of the Pope as the leader of the Universal Church as the Vicar of Christ, hence, this Basilica is the Mother Church of the whole entire world and is consequently also the most important and preeminent of all the world’s churches.

The Lateran Basilica, also known as the Basilica of St. John Lateran, or by its proper full name of The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran, as the only Archbasilica in the world, the most important and mother of all churches in the city and Diocese of Rome and the whole entire world, dedicated to the Most Holy Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the two saints, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, is one of the earliest and longest-enduring historical church buildings from the early days of the Church, having been built and consecrated about a thousand and seven hundred years ago during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.

Back then, the Church and the Christian communities had just emerged out of long period of constant but intermittent episodes of persecution of Christians by the Roman and local authorities, that under the same Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, had ended officially with the famous Edict of Milan. The Edict of Milan extended toleration to all Christians, ending the persecution of Christians by the state, and with the Emperor Constantine increasingly becoming favourable and supportive to the Christian faith and Church, the Church began to flourish, and with the Emperor’s support, extensive building programs of various churches began in the city of Rome and elsewhere. Within the city of Rome, the Lateran Basilica was one of the first to be built, intended as the Cathedral for the Pope, as well as the Old St. Peter’s Basilica built atop the tomb of St. Peter in the Vatican Hill, among other churches and Basilicas.

Many people mistook the St. Peter’s Basilica, or the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican as the place of the Pope’s Cathedral, because of its frequent use in the Papal Masses and liturgies. This was because St. Peter’s Basilica, which current building dated from about five centuries ago and replaced the Old St. Peter’s Basilica, was the place where the Popes resided after their temporal and worldly authority were no more when the Papal States ceased to exist about one and a half centuries ago. Prior to that, for a long time the Pope often resided at the Lateran Palace located just adjacent to the Lateran Basilica itself, as the seat of his temporal and spiritual power, as both the ruler of the Papal States or the States of the Church, as well as the Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff.

Thus, on this day, we are reminded of this less well-known but not less important Basilica and church, upon which the whole entire Christendom revolved around. It was founded in the Year of Our Lord (Anno Domini) 324, almost a thousand and seven hundred years ago, during the reign of Pope St. Silvester I, who reigned during the pivotal twenty-one years during which the fate of Christianity and the Church was evolving and changing rapidly, from a faith that was just recently being tolerated and emerging from the very intense persecution by Emperor Diocletian and Galerius, to a Church that was growing rapidly and gaining many support and followers not just from the Emperor himself, but also from many segments of the Roman society. It was truly a time of great transformation in the Church and the community of God’s faithful people.

Many people mistook St. Peter’s Basilica as the Pope’s Cathedral and principal church because in the recent decades and centuries, that is where the Pope usually carried out most of his functions and celebrated the Mass, and that is where he also dwelled, historically because of the establishment of the Vatican City State as an independent and sovereign country, with the Pope as the Head of State, which is centred upon the Basilica of St. Peter and the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. The Papal Basilica of St. Peter is indeed a very important church, the second in importance and precedence after the Lateran Basilica itself, but the fact remains that the Cathedral and hence the Mother Church of all Christendom, is the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, which dedication we celebrate today.

In today’s readings, we heard Scripture passages related to the dedication of a church, and reminded of the importance of these places consecrated and set aside to be House of God, the place of God’s dwelling, His Holy Presence, and a House of Prayer for all. In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the heavenly vision of Ezekiel, who saw a great vision of a Heavenly Temple and Sanctuary, in God’s Holy Presence, from which a great torrent and flood of water came forth, purifying and blessing all that came within its path. This water is a life-giving water and spring which came from the Lord Himself, and is a reminder for us of another part of the Gospel, when the Lord Jesus met a Samaritan woman who was collecting water from Jacob’s well, and told her that He is the Life-giving Spring, in Whom she will no longer thirst or seek for anything else.

In the second reading, from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the Christian community in Corinth, we heard of the famous passage in which the Apostle reminded the faithful there, and hence also all of us, that we are all God’s Temple, the Temple of the Holy Presence of God, and how the Church has been built upon the foundation of the Apostles, and we are all the parts of this Church, as parts of the one and same Body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. This is a reminder that just as we celebrate and commemorate this anniversary of the Dedication of this great Basilica and House of God, we must not neglect the Temple, the House of God, that is each and every one of us, because God dwells in us too, and not just in the churches and Basilicas.

In the ceremony and parts of the Dedication of a church and Basilica, there are many components that if we examine closely, resembles and are similar to the rite of Baptism, done either on Easter Vigil or at the adult and infant baptisms. In the Dedication of a church, holy water is sprinkled upon the Altar and the whole Church, which is just as how the catechumens are baptised with holy water in the Sacrament of Baptism. Then, the Altar is also anointed with holy oils, the sacred chrism, to mark and consecrate it to God, together with the twelve consecration crosses throughout the church building, just as how the newly baptised are anointed with sacred chrism as well, anointing and consecrating us to God, as His holy and beloved people.

The church that is being dedicated is also lighted with the light from the blessed fire which ultimately originated from the holy fire blessed on Easter Vigil, symbolising Christ’s light, the Altar candles and all the other candles throughout the church, just as how the newly baptised Christians receive the light of Christ symbolised through their lighted baptismal candles. The Altar is then covered with pure white ‘garments’ that is the Altar cloths, just as we don our white baptismal garments at the time of our baptism. Then both are also incensed, just as the Altar and the church are incensed with the fragrant aroma pleasing to God, as we all, the whole living Church of God are incensed, marking us to be holy and dedicated to God.

Now, I hope we can already see very clearly how each and every one of us as Christians are also God’s Temples, where His Holy Presence dwells. He has also given us His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and hence we, as the Temples of the Holy Spirit, in the words of St. Paul the Apostle, are all called to be holy and worthy, all the more because we also receive Him in the flesh and in His Real Presence, through the Most Holy Eucharist we partake, that the Lord Himself, in His Body, Soul and Divinity, has entered into our beings, not just spiritually but also physically, and hence, it is imperative that each and every one of us recognise the importance and the gravity of the matter, in ensuring that all of us remain vigilant in how we live our lives as Christians, that we always strive to do what is right and just according to God’s will, His Law and commandments.

In our Gospel passage today, this is alluded in the famous occasion of the Lord Jesus clearing the Temple from the many merchants, money changers and all others peddling their businesses in the courtyard of the Temple. Contextually, those merchants, money changers and others serve practical purpose providing the pilgrims and all those who came to the Temple to worship the Lord, the sacrificial offerings and animals to be offered and burnt to God. And at that time, since many Jewish people and believers lived in faraway places in the diaspora that spanned the entire Roman Empire and even in distant places like Persia and Ethiopia, they would have used different coins and currencies that might need to be exchanged first. Hence, this was why those merchants and money changers carried out their works and businesses there at the Temple.

What the Lord was against, was their practice in cheating and being dishonest in the way they carried their businesses and works, as they likely overcharged the worshippers by a lot, taking advantage of the fact that most if not all worshippers and other pilgrims needed their services. They treated the people of God and the sanctity of His holy place, His own House, the Temple of Jerusalem, with disdain, committing grievous sins in His very Presence. This was what angered the Lord very much, Who struck them all with a whip and chased those corrupt merchants and money changers out of the Temple courtyard. This is also a reminder therefore for us, that we must always keep our own Temples, that is our own beings, truly holy and worthy, just as we also should keep our churches, that had been dedicated to God for sacred worship, holy and worthy of God’s Holy Presence.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, can we therefore ensure that we always strive to uphold the sanctity and holiness of our places and worship, as well as our own beings, our bodies, minds, hearts and souls as well? As we rejoice today in the memory of the Dedication of the Mother Church of all Christendom today, let us all do what is tangible and possible for us, that is to keep ourselves truly holy and worthy of the Lord, by striving to be always obedient to His Law and commandments at all times. May the Lord continue to bless us all and guide us in our respective journeys in life, in all the things we say and do, and in our every interactions all the time. Amen.

by

Thursday, 9 November 2023 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 2 : 13-22

At that time, as the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple court He found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves, and money-changers seated at their tables.

Making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the Temple court, together with the oxen and sheep. He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves, “Take all this away, and stop making a marketplace of My Father’s house!” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture : Zeal for Your house devours me like fire.

The Jews then questioned Jesus, “Where are the miraculous signs which give You the right to do this?” And Jesus said, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then replied, “The building of this Temple has already taken forty-six years, and will You raise it up in three days?”

Actually, Jesus was referring to the Temple of His Body. Only when He had risen from the dead did His disciples remember these words; then they believed both the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

by

Thursday, 9 November 2023 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 45 : 2-3, 5-6, 8-9

God is our strength and protection, an ever-present help in affliction. We will not fear, therefore; though the earth be shaken and the mountains plunge into the seas.

There is a river whose streams bring joy to the City of God, the holy place, where the Most High dwells. God is within, the city cannot quake, for God’s help is upon it at the break of day.

For with us is YHVH of hosts, the God of Jacob, our refuge. Come, see the works of YHVH – the marvellous things He has done in the world.

by

Thursday, 9 November 2023 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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

The Man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple and I saw water coming out from the threshold of the Temple and flowing eastward. The Temple faced the east and the water flowed from the south side of the Temple, from the south side of the Altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside, to the outer gate facing the east; and there I saw the stream coming from the south side.

He said to me, “This water goes to the east, down to the Arabah, and when it flows into the sea of foul-smelling water, the water will become wholesome. Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will live in it; fish will be plentiful; and the seawater will become fresh. Wherever it flows, life will abound.”

“Near the river on both banks, there will be all kinds of fruit trees, with foliage that will not wither; and fruit that will never fail; each month they will bear a fresh crop, because the water comes from the Temple. The fruit will be good to eat and the leaves will be used for healing.”

Alternative reading (Second Reading if this Feast is celebrated as a Solemnity)

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

But you are God’s field and building. I, as good architect, according to the capacity given to me, I laid the foundation, and another is to build upon it. Each one must be careful how to build upon it. No one can lay a foundation other than the One which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are God’s Temple, and that God’s Spirit abides within you? If anyone destroys the Temple of God, God will destroy him. God’s Temple is holy, and you are this Temple.

by

Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the special occasion this day when we celebrate the anniversary of the Dedication of not just one but two of the greatest churches in Christendom, namely the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican, the great and renowned House of God where the Pope frequently celebrates the Holy Mass and other important major events of the faith, as the place where St. Peter himself, the first Pope and Vicar of Christ, was martyred. The other great Basilica is the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, named such because it is located just outside the walls of the ancient city of Rome, and where St. Paul according to tradition, spent his time in Rome, while waiting for his trial by the Emperor as listed in the Acts of the Apostles.

On this day therefore, it is appropriate for us to remind ourselves of the two Apostles after whom those two great Basilicas, the House of God have been named after. St. Peter and St. Paul are both the patron saints of Rome and hence of the Universal Church, and their role in the establishment of the Church in Rome, the then heart of the Roman Empire and later on as the heart of all Christendom were truly significant, as they were the ones to lay the firm foundations of the Church there, through their toils and hard work, and by the shedding of their own blood and the martyrdom that they endured for the sake of the Lord and for His people. We honour these two great men of God, our important role models, as we remember and commemorate the anniversary of the Dedication of the two Basilicas named and dedicated in their honour. Those Basilicas as mentioned, are next in honour only after the Papal Cathedral, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, which Dedication we commemorated just a week ago.

St. Peter the Apostle was the first Pope and Vicar of Christ, appointed as such by the Lord Himself, as He entrusted His Church to him as written in the Sacred Scriptures itself, entrusting to him the whole Universal Church and the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. He was appointed and made to be the leader of the whole Church, truly the Prince of the Apostles and the Lord’s Vicar in this world, as the leader of all the leaders of the Church, as the shepherd and guide for all the faithful people of God. And yet, for this great mission and responsibility, as we all ought to know, St. Peter was not one which the world would have deemed fit for the role. He was after all a mere illiterate, brash and poor fisherman from the lake of Galilee area, literally a nobody at that time. No one would have thought that this man would have become the Lord’s very own Vicar in this world.

Yet, that was what the Lord did, brothers and sisters in Christ, that He chose an ordinary man, a nobody in the eyes of the world to be His chief disciple, and what others might not have known then, was how dedicated and committed the Apostles, especially that of St. Peter, were to the Lord. What the Lord saw in their hearts were the capacity to love Him and to serve their fellow brethren with genuine dedication, and just as He called them and they responded, in the end, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they all prevailed in faith, and gave their efforts and lives for the glory of God. St. Peter himself went on to Rome and became the first Bishop of Rome, establishing the foundation of the Church there, and during the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Nero, he was arrested and martyred, crucified upside-down on Vatican hill, where the great Basilica of St. Peter now stands. He chose to die in that manner because in his own words, he said that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his Lord and Master.

Meanwhile, St. Paul the Apostle was the Apostle to the Gentiles, sent and commissioned to reach out to the various communities of the faithful all throughout Christendom, and was renowned and remembered for his many efforts and labours especially among the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people, protecting their rights and helping them to find their ways to the Lord more easily, by opposing those who sought to impose the customs and strict, unbending, Pharisaical rules of the Jewish people onto the whole Church. He was himself was once Saul, a young and zealous Pharisee who was very fervent and energetic in his pursuit of the early Christians, in the hope of crushing and destroying the Church in its earliest moments, in his misguided efforts to follow the Law as per what he once knew.

After he had encountered the Lord personally on his way to Damascus, in that well-known conversion experience, and after he was baptised and received the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit, Saul, became Paul, a new man of God. From a vicious enemy of Christians and the Lord, St. Paul became a great and most ardent defender and champion of the Christian faith, dedicating his life and works to serve the Lord, wholeheartedly. He spent a lot of time and effort in reaching out to various people he encountered throughout his missionary journeys, and went through and endured a lot of sufferings and persecutions, arrest and imprisonment, and was eventually martyred in Rome by the same Emperor Nero when Christians were made scapegoats and were persecuted for the Great Fire of Rome, and St. Paul was beheaded for his faith.

Today, as we remember this memory of the Dedication of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican and the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, we are reminded that each one of us are also parts and members of the living Church of God, as the living stones making up this one Body of all the Christian faithful. As the two Basilicas were consecrated and dedicated to God, made hallow, holy and blessed, as places worthy for the worship and adoration of God, therefore each one of us have to strive to be worthy and holy for the Lord as well, just like that of the Apostles and the other disciples of God, especially that of St. Peter and St. Paul. And why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because all of us, according to St. Paul, are no less than the Temple of God’s very own Holy Presence, His own dwelling place, as He has come to us in His own Real and Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and His Holy Spirit has dwelled within us as well.

Therefore, if our lives and actions are unbecoming and unworthy of what we as Christians are expected to do, then we are in fact doing no less than defiling the sanctity of this Temple and House of God, our very own body, heart, mind and soul, our very own beings. And if we do that, then it is by our own actions and wickedness that we will be judged, and certainly none of us will want to be on the wrong side of God’s judgment. Do we want to enjoy forever the blissful eternal life with God, in His presence and in the fullness of His grace and love? Or do we rather suffer for an eternity in eternal damnation and darkness because of our wickedness and sins? The choice has been given to us, and God has given us the freedom to choose our path in this life we have on Earth. Let us all choose wisely, brothers and sisters in Christ.

May the Lord therefore be with us, His Church, strengthening and empowering us all as His disciples and followers, and strengthening our unity as members of the same Church, the Body of Christ, so that we may always be holy just as our Lord is holy. May God bless us all and our every good endeavours and works, and may He remain with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Luke 19 : 45-48

At that time, Jesus entered the Temple area and began to drive out the merchants. And He said to them, “God says in the Scriptures, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of robbers!'”

Jesus was teaching every day in the Temple. The chief priests and teachers of the Law wanted to kill Him, and the elders of the Jews as well, but they were unable to do anything, for all the people were listening to Him and hanging on His words.

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Matthew 14 : 22-33

At that time, immediately, Jesus obliged His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself, to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it.

At daybreak, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once, Jesus said to them, “Courage! Do not be afraid. It is Me!” Peter answered, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

Jesus said to him, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and began to sink; and he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”

As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, “Truly, You are the Son of God!”

by

Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Psalm 118 : 14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131

I delight in following Your laws, more so than in all riches.

Your laws are my delight, my counsellors who uphold me.

Your law is more precious to me than heaps of silver and gold.

How sweet are Your promises to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart.

I gasp in ardent yearning for Your commandments that I love.

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to YHVH a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, YHVH!

by

Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Revelations 10 : 8-11

And the voice I heard from heaven spoke again, saying to me, “Go near the Angel Who stands on the sea and on the land, and take the small book open in his hand.” So I approached the Angel and asked him for the small book; he said to me, “Take it and eat; although it be sweet as honey in your mouth, it will be bitter to your stomach.”

I took the small book from the hand of the Angel, and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach. Then I was told, “You must again proclaim God’s words about many peoples, nations, tongues and kings.”

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Acts 28 : 11-16, 30-31

After three months, we boarded a ship that had spent the winter at the island. It belonged to an Alexandrian company, and carried the figurehead of Castor and Pollux as insignia. We sailed for Syracuse, staying there for three days; and, after circling the coast, we arrived at Rhegium.

On the following day, a south wind began to blow, and, at the end of two days, we arrived at Puteoli, where we found some of our brothers, who invited us to stay with them for a week. And that was how we came to Rome. There, the brothers and sisters had been informed of our arrival, and came out to meet us as far as the Appian Forum and the Three Taverns.

When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and took courage. Upon our arrival in Rome, the captain turned the prisoners over to the military governor, but permitted Paul to lodge in a private house, with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul stayed for two whole years, in a house he, himself, rented, where he received, without any hindrance, all those who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God, and taught the truth about Jesus Christ, the Lord, quite openly and without any hindrance.

by

Thursday, 18 November 2021 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of St. Paul (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of St. Paul)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of not just one but two of the four great Major Papal Basilicas in Rome, namely the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican as well as the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. These two great Basilica are among the most prominent churches in Christendom, just below in prestige and honour to the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the Pope, which Dedication we just celebrated earlier this month.

These two great Papal Basilicas were also appropriately named and consecrated in the name of the two great Apostles of the Lord, the patrons and protectors of the city of Rome and the Universal Church, for St. Peter the Apostle, the Prince of the Apostles and the first Vicar of Christ, and St. Paul the Apostle, the Apostle to the Gentiles, were both martyred in Rome after many long years of ministering to the Church of God and the faithful.

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter, probably the most famous of all the churches in the world is where the Pope currently celebrates most of his liturgical celebrations, as the largest church in all Christendom and also as it is adjacent to his residence in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City. It also stands atop the site where St. Peter was likely martyred during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero in the first great persecution of Christians, with the tomb of St. Peter located just below the great Altar of the Basilica.

Meanwhile, the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls as its name suggests, was located outside the old boundaries of the ancient city of Rome, at the exact site mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as the place in which St. Paul resided during his time in Rome. He had relatively a lot of freedom in Rome and went about quite freely among the people, both the Jewish diaspora in Rome and among the Gentiles alike, ministering to the faithful and proclaiming the truth and the Good News of God.

As we recall today the moment when these two great Houses of God, the worthy places and Temples of His Holy Presence, were consecrated to God and dedicated to Him, we are therefore called and reminded that we are all also God’s Holy Temples, the Temples of His Holy Presence, the Temples of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul himself in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth spoke of this, comparing each and every one of us to the Temple of the Holy Spirit, exactly because God Himself has dwelled in us, by the Holy Spirit He has sent down to us, as well as through our partaking of the Eucharist, Our Lord’s own Most Precious Body and Blood.

As such, we are all reminded through the examples set by the two great Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, whose names adorn those two great Basilicas, that we all have to be faithful to the Lord in the same manner as St. Peter and St. Paul had been faithful and committed to God in all things. And if we think that we are unworthy or that it is impossible for us to be faithful to God as they had been faithful, then we have to remember that those two great Apostles were themselves once also ordinary, sinful men.

St. Peter was an uneducated and illiterate fisherman, whom the Lord called to follow Him at the shore of Lake Galilee. This same St. Peter was the one who denied knowing the Lord three times at the moment of His arrest and suffering during His Passion, and denied Him publicly before all, even after he declared that he would die for the sake of the Lord just earlier on the same night. It is the same St. Peter whose faith was wavering as we heard in our Gospel passage today, when the Lord asked him to come towards Him in the middle of the storm, walking on the water.

Then for St. Paul the Apostle, he was once a great enemy of the Church and all the faithful, being a young zealot among the Pharisees named Saul who was dead set on destroying the Church and persecuting all the faithful, all who proclaimed the Name of Jesus and His teachings. St. Paul as Saul persecuted thousands across Judea and beyond, and was feared by many of the faithful, who went into hiding in fear of the retribution and the actions of that young zealot and others who persecuted them.

As you can see, both Apostles were once great sinners and flawed, that many would not have imagined how these two could have become great Apostles, as the greatest of the Lord’s champions and defenders in the end. Yet, that was what had exactly happened. God did not choose the holy and worthy, the powerful, intelligent or mighty to be His disciples, but rather, He empower those whom He had called and chosen, who responded to His call and committed themselves to Him, to be holy and worthy, as St. Peter and St. Paul had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us then? Are we willing to respond to God’s call as well? Through baptism, all of us have responded to God’s call, but many of us are still not yet truly committed to Him. Many of us still keep on holding to our past, sinful practices and way of life, and many still have placed the Lord as secondary in importance in their lives. Are we then able and willing to embrace the Lord and His calling for us, to accept the mission entrusted to us and to live our lives worthily as holy and devout Christians from now on?

Let us discern these carefully today as we remember our great rejoicing on this Feast of the Dedication of the Papal Basilicas of St. Peter in Vatican and St. Paul Outside the Walls. May all of us, God’s living Holy Temples, the Temples of His Holy Presence continue to strive to keep ourselves holy and worthy, that in our every words, actions and deeds, we will always be exemplary in our Christian living and conduct, and do our best to proclaim the truth of God in all things, following the courageous examples of St. Peter and St. Paul, Holy Apostles of God. Amen.