Word to the Wise
Saturday, November 9, 2019 - Nov. 9 - The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
[Ezek 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22]You are God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? [1 Corinthians]
There was a family friend years ago who was very large. He once commented to me that if the body is the temple of God, he was a basilica! My preaching ministry has taken me to many dioceses. Pastors would often take me on a tour in the cathedral city to visit the cathedral of the diocese. They weren't all "basilicas," even when they were large. Nowadays the term is a special title given to church buildings of historical importance. The parish church where I grew up in Natchitoches, LA, was once the cathedral of the former diocese by that name (1853-1910) but only very recently did it become a "minor basilica." It probably could fit in one of the side chapels of the Lateran Basilica in Rome whose dedication we celebrate today.
The Laterani family donated land for a church and the church is called the Basilica of St. John Lateran. It is, despite popular belief to the contrary, the official cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and its bishop, Pope Francis. St. Pater's Basilica gets all the attention. At least the Lateran church is a basilica!
No matter how big or small, no matter how we use the word, "church," to call any place of worship, the Church is composed of human persons, as St. Paul reminds us. Our relationship to God suggests to us that we create "sacred space" for the community of believers to gather. This space can be a magnificent edifice or a rock on a mountainside (I've celebrated Mass in both circumstances.) To celebrate the anniversary of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica calls attention more to a person, the Bishop of Rome, whose cathedral it is, but we can still appreciate a nice piece of sacred architecture that has survived sacking and looting and earthquakes many times. In that sense, the Lateran Basilica represents all of us who are the church in reality. Jesus and St. Paul were tough builders. AMEN