“The Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica… brings us to the heart of what it means to be the Church,” Pope Leo XIV said during Mass in Buenos Aires on Monday, November 9.

As the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, he explained, the Basilica of St John Lateran “is a sign of unity and communion for all the Churches throughout the world.”

Restoring the Temple as a house of prayer

Turning to the day’s readings, the Holy Father focused on the image of the temple, starting with the Gospel account of Jesus cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem. “In doing so,” the Pope said, Jesus “seeks to restore the Father’s house to its true purpose.” Rather than trying to “bargain” with God, Jesus shows that God the Father is “always ready to give us every good thing.” In this way, he continued, “the temple, the dwelling place of His presence, becomes once again a house of prayer for all His children.”

The Pope went on to reflect on the first reading, which shows water flowing from the Temple to give life to all it reaches; and on the Psalm, whose images of the earth shaking and the mountains trembling “reflect the fragility and chaos that we so often encounter in human experience.”

“Amid all these hardships and crises,” Pope Leo said, “God’s word shines out as a source of hope: God is in our midst; we need not be afraid.”

The family, a seed of renewal

Then, recalling that Christ “has already made room for us in His heart” through His resurrection, the Holy Father called on the faithful to “Welcome this grace into your families!” With and through Jesus, he said, “every family can become a seed of genuine renewal for this country.”

He invited his listeners to “Open the doors of your homes to Christ,” through family prayer, mutual forgiveness and listening, grandparents teaching their grandchildren to pray, and other simple gestures. “Indeed,” he said, “the family is a privileged place for coming to know and encounter Christ.”

‘The Church in Argentina needs you!’

Finally, Pope Leo encouraged families “to take a leading role in evangelization.” “The Church in Argentina needs you!” he said, adding, “This Church is renewed and filled with enthusiasm when families, animated by faith, pray together and live out their ministry of proclaiming the Good News.”

Entrusting families to Mary and Joseph, Pope Leo concluded his homily with the prayer that Jesus might “bless us, so that our homes, too, might become temples of His presence.”