Word to the Wise
Thursday, November 9, 2006 - Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Rome
[Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22]Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
The relationship between a community and its church building is a complex one. Scripture tells us that a church is a living community of people. It is composed of "living stones" and each "stone" is a "temple" in itself! That is one complicated building plan! Add to this the emotional need for and attachment that people can have to a church building. In our current time of clergy shortage and parish consolidation, stories abound of parishioners barricading themselves in a church building scheduled to be sold or torn down as part of a "reconfiguring" scheme. The identity of the living community seems bound up with a particular building! Some of this explains the observance of a feast that probably most people have no particular knowledge about - the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. It's the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Rome, Italy. The Pope is the (Arch)bishop of Rome! St. Peter's is a great gathering space, but it's not the pope's cathedral! The popes originally lived there and not in Vatican City. Apparently the building has survived war, fire, and earthquakes. It was built on land donated by a local family, the Laterani. It has a bit of the local about it despite its grandeur, as contrasted with St. Peter's which aims at the transcendent! In this sense it symbolizes that complicated theological and emotional relationship Catholic (and other church communities) parishioners have with their church building and with one another. Celebrating its original dedication (way back in 324AD), is a reminder that the church has been around a long time in person and in brick and mortar! AMEN
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