Homily for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Today’s feast is one of those celebrations that can catch you by surprise.  We’re currently in Ordinary Time, but because today’s celebration is of such importance, it trumps the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.  So, the first question is, why?

The answer is because of the importance of the Lateran Basilica.  Firstly, what is a basilica?  It’s basically a big church.  The church in the parish where I grew up in Walsall is called St Thomas’, but I know a member of the clergy who sometimes calls it “the basilica of St Thomas’” because of its size.  To be properly a basilica, though, a church has to be designated with that title by the Pope.  In this country, the cathedral of St Chad’s in Birmingham is classed as a minor basilica, and more recently, the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham has also been given the same status.  So a basilica may or may not also be a cathedral as well.  St John Lateran is the cathedral church of Rome, so it’s more important than St Peter’s, and that’s why we celebrate its dedication today.

For the Jews, their equivalent of Rome was Jerusalem, and their equivalent of St John Lateran was the Temple.  But all was not perfect.  The Temple was a place of sacrifice of animals and various other items to God as offerings, as described by the Jewish Law.  That’s why they were selling cattle and pigeons, plus other things as well.  You would either bring or buy maybe a lamb, and then have it sacrificed by one of the Temple priests, and then part of it you would then take back with you to eat during the Passover meal.  The money-changers were there because it was considered a holy place, and so it was thought that pagan coins, such as denarii, sestertii, drachmas and so on were impure.  People had to exchange these for Jewish coins, shekels, to use to buy offerings to sacrifice in the Temple.  Unfortunately, abuses also took place, and Our Lord drives them out.  He tells them:  “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade”.  It’s as if it has become a place of big business, rather than the holiest site in Judaism.  Contrast that with our piety stall.

The Temple authorities no doubt got rather angry.  This person turns up and acts as if he own the place.  Well, actually, He does.  That’s the whole point.  This is God’s house, and Jesus is God.

So, bringing it into modern times, churches, cathedrals, chapels and basilicas are holy because God dwells in them, particularly in Catholic churches that have the Blessed Sacrament.  This reflects a few other things:  firstly, in Jesus’ human body, His divinity, His divine presence, was also to be found there.  In the baptised Christian, God the Holy Spirit is to be found, as St Paul tells us in the second reading, which means that we also have to treat each other with great respect and reverence.  It also reminds us that all life is sacred, from womb to tomb.  But there are also other points to make.

When we come into St Joseph’s, we are grateful that it is kept tidy and clean (don’t worry, I’m not about to lecture you about leaving hymn books behind or that sort of thing).  We recognise that Christ dwells here in the tabernacle, and so, knee joints permitting, we go down on one knee when we enter as an act of worship to the Lord.  And St Joseph’s also reflects our own hearts and souls as well.  We want this church to be a fitting place for the Lord.  And we want our hearts to be fitting places for the Lord too.  So we have to keep our own hearts clean from sin as well.

In the first reading, there is that image of the healing, purifying waters flowing from the Temple.  That fresh water flows down the river, providing nourishment for the trees to produce their fruit, and then as that water flows into the sea, the waters become fresh.  Fish can live in the sea, but salt water isn’t good for many other things.  They need freshwater instead.  It’s an image of the cleansing, purifying and healing power of the sacraments, flowing from the Church.  If our hearts are full of seawater, the grace of the sacraments can flow into them and make them pure and clean again.  If our good deeds are getting a bit sparse, the nourishing and fertile waters flowing from the side of Christ, through His Body, the Church, can make us more fervent and bring us to full life again.

So today, we celebrate a church, the most important of all the churches in the world, the cathedral church of Rome, St John Lateran.  We may have never visited it.  We might never see it with our own eyes.  But it’s our equivalent of the Temple in Jerusalem, and it reminds us that Christ is working powerfully today through His Church.  He is with us in the Blessed Sacrament; He restores us in confession.  He brings us to new health and vitality.  And it means that we can be Christ in the world, because we too, have God dwelling within us.  See Jesus in everyone, and be Jesus to everyone.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk