Homily for the Feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, 9 November 2022.
Ask anyone which Church is the Cathedral Church of Rome and they’d probably tell you it’s St Peter’s Basilica; it’s where all the most important Papal Masses are held, where the Popes are elected, where Saints are Canonised, where St Peter is buried, and it’s the great monument marking the territory of Vatican City. A reasonable assumption, but unfortunately wrong. Saint Peter’s Basilica is not the Cathedral Church of Rome, instead that honour belongs to the only Archbasilica in the World; The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran. A mouthful usually shortened to Saint John Lateran.
Outside the Lateran Basilica is a plaque bearing an inscription which reads “Most Holy Lateran Church, mother and head of all the churches in the city and the world.” Today is a special feast day for the whole Church, not of a saint but of a building, the dedication of this ancient Basilica, the seat of the Bishop of Rome. It is from the throne in the Lateran that he governs the City of Rome as Bishop and the whole Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church as Pope.
Why do we celebrate a Church building today? Surely it goes against the spirit of the Gospel; the Jews were proud of Herod’s Temple, it had taken forty-six years to build, and Jesus says to them; destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up. The history of this Gospel, and the Temple, is important; the Babylonians had destroyed the first temple, and the second temple (which existed in Jesus’ day) always existed under something of a cloud; it was a rebuilt temple, but unlike the first temple, it lacked the Shekinah, the Glory of God, which never came to dwell in the second temple.
When Jesus returns, then, and speaks about destroying the Sanctuary, St John makes clear that he is talking about His own body; He is the Shekinah, His earthly body is the Ark of the Covenant, and finding the second temple unworthily kept he drove out the marketplace and the money-changers. When we read this along with Jesus words to the Samaritan woman, prophesying that there would come a time when men would worship neither on Mount Gerizim nor in the Temple “worship the Father in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:23). Why then do we still build Churches? Why not just worship as Jesus says, in Spirit and truth?
From the moment the Church stopped being persecuted in the 4th Century, Christians began to build Churches, first because to Worship God in Spirit and Truth they needed a place to gather to receive Him; to hear his words and more importantly, to receive Him in the Eucharist.
These buildings honoured Jesus’ desire when he cleansed the Jewish Temple; they were not built as community centres or town halls, or (in modern church language) “multifunctional flexible worship spaces” but as dedicated houses of prayer. Places which were set apart exclusively for the mysteries of the Church; the word and the sacraments.
We built them also understanding that, as physical beings, as creatures that live in the world of the senses, we need sensory reminders of the truths we professed. Go into a Church and the building itself should tell you what we believe; why do we elevate the altar above the people? Because it’s important, it’s the place of sacrifice where heaven meets earth! Why is the Tabernacle so ornate? Why do we burn candles around it? Because it’s the place where Jesus dwells among us in body, blood, soul, and divinity. The Church buildings don’t tell us the truth, they show it to us in powerful symbols. Church buildings are reminders carved in stone, painted in frescoes and canvas, or blown into magnificent images in stained glass, of what we believe. They show us the mystery of our faith and direct our eyes and our minds to heaven. They reflect the beauty and goodness of God.
With that in mind, I want to draw two lessons from the Basilica of St John Lateran in Rome, two ways this Rococo-style Roman church teaches us something about The Church (Capital 'T' capital 'C').
The first lesson we learn is from the Throne, the Cathedra of the Lateran Basilica. It is carved in stone, and set in front of a golden arch, and under a mosaic icon of Christ. Jesus made St Peter the Rock on which the Church would be built; an unmoving fixed point of unity for the whole Church. The stone throne is permanent, fixed into place, a seat for the Pope alone. It represents the man who sits on it and the office he has of holding the entire Church together under Christ.
The second lesson we learn is from the statues. All around the basilica are twelve niches, each containing a 20-foot high marble statue of St Peter, St Paul, or one of the other Apostles. Each Apostle carries the thing that was used to Martyr them, except for John, the author of today’s gospel, who carries a pen. It shows us the foundations of our faith; the witness of the Apostles. They taught the faith, guarded it, and handed it over to their successors, the Bishops. They now gather around the throne of St Peter’s Successor, as representatives of the college of Bishops gathered around the Pope; holding on to the deposit of the faith, defending the faithful inside the Church from the errors of the outside world, handing the faith on to us, and Cum Petro et sub Petro (with Peter and under Peter) governing the Church today.
By now, you may have noticed I like to give you all something to do when I preach. So today, on this feast of the Lateran Basilica, I’d ask each of you to pray, during and after this Mass, for our Pope, Francis, and our Bishop Philip, and all the college of Bishops. Pray that they may live up to their vocations; building up the Church in unity and truth, and Charity, governing us with wisdom and compassion, and making the Church a house of prayer fit for the Lord.
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