Throughout the Church year, special days are set apart to
honor particular saints. This week on
November 3 was the feast of St. Martin de Porres, November 4, was the feast of
St. Charles Borromeo. Some feast days
celebrate important moments in the life of Christ or his Mother, like the
Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, the Feast of the Transfiguration, the
Feast of Mary’s Assumption.
It might seem strange, but today we celebrate the
anniversary of the dedication of a church building. In every diocese, the dedication of the
Cathedral is celebrated as a solemnity. By
the way, the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of Cleveland is
September 6.
Today is the celebration of the dedication of the Pope’s
Cathedral; not St. Peter’s, but St. John Lateran. St. Peter’s is the world’s largest church,
and a very important church symbolically, reminding us that the Pope is the
successor of St. Peter.
Yet, it is the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the
Pope’s Cathedral. Every diocese has a Cathedral in which is found the seat,
the “cathedra” which is the symbol of the bishop’s authority and of his
teaching and preaching office. Because
the Pope is not only the bishop of Rome, but exercises very important
preaching, teaching, governing authority in the Universal Church as Vicar of
Christ, the anniversary of the dedication of the Pope’s Cathedral is celebrated
by the entire world today.
St. John Lateran is not the name
of the saint. The lateran is named after
the “Laterani” family who had a palace in Rome.
In the year 313, when the Emperor Constantine legalized the practice of
Christianity in the Roman Empire, he had a basilica built for the pope next to
the palace of the Laterani family. The
original basilica was in the year 324 AD by Pope Sylvester I.
During the first
three hundred years, Christianity suffered wave after wave of violent
persecution,
because the Christians refused to worship the false pagan gods of
the Roman Empire. As a result,
throughout the empire, Christians were arrested, imprisoned, interrogated, tortured,
and killed. Because of the persecutions,
Christians couldn’t risk building permanent church buildings. They would
celebrate Mass in private homes or in the catacombs.
Things changed only when Emperor Constantine, the son of St
Helen, issued the Edict of Milan in 313, legalizing Christianity and bringing
the age of state sponsored persecution to a close.
The first church built in this new era of Christianity was St.
John Lateran. It’s the oldest church
building in the world.
The Lateran Basilica stands as a reminder, of how the tiny,
poor, non-military religion of Christianity withstood the force of the great
Roman Empire; it reminds us of the heroic virtues of the martyrs and the grace
of God that sustained them in their sufferings; that the Church will withstand
all of the attacks of hell until the end of time.
There is a lot of symbolism built into the architecture of
John Lateran.
Her immense bronze doors were taken from the old Roman
Senate—as a way of saying that the old pagan era of Rome had come to an end,
the true way to peace comes by entering into Christ. He brings a peace, a unity to mankind, that
no earthly government can bring.
The main nave of the Church interior is surrounded by twelve
monumental marble statues of the Twelve Apostles. It is a symbol that the Church is founded and
supported by the Twelve Apostles called by Christ. We are an apostolic church.
The altar of St. John Lateran is actually an ancient wooden
altar used by St. Peter himself for the celebration of mass before his
martyrdom. The original altar is of
course covered in marble. Over the altar
are the relics of the skulls of both St. Peter and Paul, who gave their life
for the spread of the Gospel.
The relics and architecture of John Lateran remind us that
our Church, guided and protected by the Holy Spirit, has been given a mission
to bring Christ to all peoples of all times in all places - a truly
supernatural mission which can only be fulfilled because God himself is with us.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul asks this question: “Do you
not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit dwells in you?” The
Catholic Church is so much more than a collection of buildings. But the Church is built of living
stones. Our church buildings should be
beautiful, but the souls of Christians should be more beautiful, reflecting our
beautiful God in the ways we live, the choice we make.
It’s fitting that the church building should be adorned with
the marble and gold, to inspire us, and to attract non-believers to our
timeless faith. They should represent visibly the great splendor of the
Church. Yet, more importantly Christians
must be adorned with charity, and virtue, and purity, and Gospel truth.
Do I make my heart a place where God truly dwells? Do I adorn my life with purity, generosity,
faith, courage in the face of persecution.
The church building is different from any other building,
for here, the body and blood of Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist. Likewise, Christians, are called to be
different from the rest of the world, living signs of God’s power and love. There are people who are desperately looking
for signs of God’s presence, we must be that sign. There
are looking for truth, so we must share it with them.
As we receive the living Body and Blood of Christ in Holy
Communion today, may the Lord transform our lives to be living basilicas,
living temples, for the Glory of God and
Salvation of souls.
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