Dear Parishioners,
As you know, one of the most popular travel destinations for Americans is Mexico. The first time I took a bus in Mexico something strange happened. I noticed that periodically people riding the bus would make the sign of the cross. At first I thought it was pretty neat that so many were praying on their way to work or school or wherever. But then I noticed that the people on the bus were making the sign of the cross at the same time and while doing other things --- reading the paper, tending to their small children, making conversation. My curiosity was killing me, so when I got back to the hotel I asked a member of the staff what exactly was going on. She told me, "That's what we do when we go past a church. We are taught at a very young age to sign ourselves when we pass a holy place."
My friends, today, as a people of faith, we honor one of our holy places --- a very special church --- the "mother of all churches" as it is sometimes called. The church we honor this day is St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome, the cathedral church of our Holy Father Pope Benedict. (No, it's not St. Peter's as many believe.) Why honor this particular church? For the first few hundred years of Christianity things were tough. The Roman Empire exhibited a great deal of hostility toward Christians. At times they martyred them by the thousands, forcing those early believers underground, figuratively and literally. Worshipping as a Christian often had to be done in secret. In the early 300s, the Emperor Constantine (a non-Christian) was about to go into battle when he had a vision of a cross in the sky with the words, "In this sign you shall conquer." The next day Constantine went into battle with the cross displayed on his standards, won the battle, and the rest is history. He attributed his victory to this sign of Christianity. Consequently, in one of the most important and famous declarations by any ruler, he declared Christians free to worship (the Edict of Milan). Eventually, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. In the short-run it was a phenomenal blessing. It brought on a true springtime for Christians, which included many baptisms, mass conversions, and churches being built everywhere.
One church became the most famous in all of Christendom, St. John Lateran. It gets its name from the Laterini family who donated a palace in Rome to Constantine, who in turn donated it to the Christian community. It was on that same site that a great church was built in 324 A.D The Roman Empire, the greatest war machine in the world had tried to extinguish Christianity but couldn't. Rome persecuted The Catholics and martyred many of them --- but God's Church would live on and thrive --- despite being hated by this outside force. This church was a sign to the people that Christianity would endure, and did it ever. We're now at 1700 years and counting-- years of ups and downs, times of great prosperity and others of tremendous difficulty, periods of steadfast faithfulness and periods of straying from the path. Yet the, Catholic Church lives on because it is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. He is the one who will sustain us through these tough times. He said to Peter and his successors, "I will be with you until the end of the world”.
You see, Catholicism has not survived because of our magnificent churches, or our great wealth, or our prestige, or the power we wield. No, the Church has survived because of the grace of God, a God who has done something quite wonderful and remarkable. He has chosen to dwell in us, the new temples. "You are God's building," St. Paul wrote, an extraordinary statement if you think about it. The Temple was God's dwelling place, and now each of us is that place. As St. Paul put it, "For the Temple of God, which you are, is holy." We are not Catholics because we come to church. We come to these holy places to live as parts, not of a congregation, but of Christ's own body. We go to church because we want to celebrate that incredible, underserved truth that we are called to live our holiness.
As we celebrate the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica, we give thanks to God for that holy place, and all that it has meant to Christians for centuries. And we recognize that churches are dedicated and filled with the faithful week-in and week-out precisely so that they may be emptied, so that the beauty and wealth that gathers here may be poured over the land, bringing life. And as water flowed from the Temple, from Jesus' side, and from this font, so we too flow out the doors of this and every church to refresh the world. My friends, if you want to see God's holy place, you need do only one simple thing. Look in the mirror. You should be that place.
Blessings be to you and your dear family, my good people of God!