Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome Nov 9, 2014
Ez 47:1-2,8-9,12 Ps 46 1
Cor 3:9-11,16-17 Jn 2:13-22
Happy feast day everybody!
This weekend we celebrate the dedication of a particular
church – the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
It may seem odd to have a universal feast day for a basilica church, but
this is no ordinary church. If you
suspected that this means something important, then you are right. There is a profound meaning to what we
celebrate today. It has a lot to do with
how we live out our faith.
The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the Cathedral church of
Rome. So just like our Cathedral of the
Assumption in Louisville, it is the bishop’s church – the mother church for the
diocese. Every diocese has a cathedral –
the church where the bishop presides.
But the Basilica of St. John Lateran is unique among all
churches. It is the cathedral church of
Rome and it is the Pope’s church. Just as the Pope is the symbol of the unity of all Christians, so St. John
Lateran Basilica is the symbol of the unity of all churches.
Today I want to talk a bit about the idea of the church,
both as the people of God as well as the place where the people gather for
worship. Both are important.
St. Paul gave a beautiful description of God’s project on
our behalf. He used a metaphor to
describe us when he wrote, “you are God’s
building.” “You are the temple of God
and the Spirit of God dwells in you.”
When we think of the beauty and magnificence of the temple in Jerusalem
as the bible describes it, or the great basilicas of the world, we know that
the work of God in us is even more magnificent.
God desires to form us as his saints.
God’s project is to perfect us in love, to make us holy, that we might
dwell with him in glory for all eternity.
God’s project started for us with our baptism. We were set apart in that moment and made
into God’s holy people. That’s what holy
actually means – “set apart” for a special purpose. Baptism sets us apart as God’s chosen ones,
members of the divine family, heirs to the promises of Christ. It is an amazing dignity that God gives to us
as those “living stones” of the temple of God.
God’s project continues within us. We are invited to a saving and sacramental
relationship with Jesus Christ and with his Church. We live that sacramental life through the
regular participation in Sunday Mass and in the Holy Days. Every time we gather as church we are formed
a bit more by the Word of God that we proclaim.
Each time we celebrate as church we are nourished by Jesus, the Bread of
Life, on our pilgrim journey to heaven. 
Word and Sacrament are an essential foundation of the
spiritual life. This is why the first
precept of the Church is that we attend Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of
Obligation. The precepts of the Church
are like a basic minimum requirement for the spiritual life. Kind of like food, water, and air are basic
requirements for physical life. The first
precept – attend Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation - is based in
the 10 commandments where the Lord instructs his people to Keep Holy the
Sabbath Day.
Our God loves us and gives us everything that is good for us. Our God forms us and feeds us through His
Holy Word and through the Sacraments. It
is the project of the lifetime granted to us – showing us the way to eternal
life. It points to the great reality
that we perceive in part in this life and will understand fully in the next
life - that “we are the temple of God and
the Spirit of God dwells in us.”
God’s project is made tangible for us through the buildings
in which we worship. God’s revelation of
heavenly realities to us is incarnational.
That is to say, God shows us what we need to know in concrete ways that
we can see, hear, touch, and taste.
Think of the Old Testament revelation of how to
worship. In the desert God instructed
the Israelites about how to construct the tent of meeting, the Holy of Holies,
and the Ark of the Covenant. Even as
they wandered in the desert, this was a substantial and glorious place for the
people to worship.
Later on, the people built the temple in Jerusalem. The temple served as a symbol for the
presence of God with the people.. In the
temple there was the place for the people to gather in prayer. Then there was the place where the priests
offered sacrifice. Then there was the
Holy of Holies where “shekinah glory”
of God dwelt. The gospel today tells us
that Jesus had zeal for the House of God – the temple. So much so that he cleansed the temple of the
money-changers and prepared the way for the new heavenly temple, not made by
human hands.
All of our churches today build upon this tradition. Our churches here in Marion County, as well
as Catholic churches throughout the world, relate to the temple of
Jerusalem. Just like the temple, we have
a large space for the people to gather.
Just like the temple, we have an altar and a priest who offers sacrifice
on that altar. Just like the temple, we
have a Holy of Holies, the tabernacle, where the real presence of Christ
dwells. These buildings are special
because the Church, the bride of Christ the bridegroom, gathers here for the
wedding feast of the Lamb. These buildings
are essential because it is here more than anywhere else that we are sanctified
by the sacraments, formed by the Word of God and nourished by the
Eucharist.
I tell you truly, Jesus loves this church. He has great zeal for it. And so should we. It is here in this place that Jesus invites us to allow His Word to take flesh in us. It is here that we, the church, become the sacrament of salvation for
the world. It is here that we discover
the dignity of our great mission to bring the gospel of Jesus to all peoples,
lands, and nations.
So, as you can see, this celebration of the dedication of
the Lateran Basilica is important. It
helps us understand who we are as the Church and the mission that is set before
us.
So, happy feast day everybody!
No comments:
Post a Comment