11-9-25 Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica
St. John Lateran
The initial word for church was a Greek word, ekklēsía. It means "assembly of those called out" (i.e. a community of believers). We can see in this description that the emphasis is on the people not on a building or architectural structure. In other words, whenever or wherever the people gather in the name of the Lord, there is the Church. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20). In the early church there were no church buildings as such, so people met in their houses. And as the community grew, they would find larger and larger structures in which to gather. Once the persecutions of the early Christians ceased to be an issue then larger buildings became more necessary. Initially the Christians used the structures of the ancient roman temples as their churches. And once they became the state religion, they could afford to build their own churches. This weekend, Nov. 9th , we celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Now many people have never seen this basilica or may not know much of its history or even its existence. So, I thought I would give you a thumb nail sketch of its place in Christianity. Its formal name is the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. It is located in Rome but outside of the Vatican City state. However, even though it is not technically in the Vatican, it remains under the jurisdiction of the Holy See. Initially the building was blessed and consecrated in 324 AD, long before St. Peter’s Basilica ever existed. It is therefore the oldest church in Rome and the oldest basilica in the Western world. Originally, the land and its buildings on which it stands today, were owned by a wealthy roman family by the name of Laterani. They gifted the land and its buildings to the Emperor Constantine in 313 after he legalized Christianity. The palace located on its grounds became the residence of the popes for nearly 1000 years after that. Today, because its prestigious history and prominence, it is called the mother church of Christianity. Also, it is considered, even to this day as the official cathedral of the Pope. Over the centuries the church has undergone a number of fires such that it needed to be rebuilt numerous times. The last major reconstruction was completed in 1735. In 2023, restoration work was done on the underground passages of the basilica. In 2024 the basilica was reopened to the public in time for the 1,700th anniversary of the basilica’s dedication.1 Above you will see a picture of the inside of the basilica looking from the front door to the altar area. I have traveled a bit over the years and 3 times I was in Italy. Many of the ancient churches I have been able to visit there are very large. In fact, only in Rome can one find the four major basilicas of the world. Many were built in the form of a cross consisting of the central isle the nave, and then at the front of the church would be two sections, one to left and one to the right. So, if you were looking down on it, it would be in the form of a cross. Today when you walk through many of these churches, other than the tourists that are there, they are essentially empty. On Sundays the entire parish of many of these churches would fit into the right or left sections at the front of the church, leaving the central nave of the church empty. These churches were built in the time in which much focus politically, socially, and financially we're centered around the church buildings. Today a number of parishes across the United States suffer to maintain their existence because so many persons seek to give their time to worldly pursuits and recreational endeavors and do not attend church or support their local church. Several years ago, “Readers Digest” published a story about a parish “Adult Religious Education Class” that attracted a marvelously diverse group of students, in terms of race, ethnicity and economic status. One evening, a woman in the class told her fellow-students about a song she had heard recently on the radio. “The lyrics,” she said, “talked about a place where ‘everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.’” Then she said, “Somebody told me that it was the theme song for a TV program about a saloon called ‘Cheers’. “But” she said, “ I can’t help wishing that they were singing it about our Church.”2 Wouldn’t that be a wonderful description of what community of believers should be like. A place where we share Eucharist, yes, but also a place where there is time to share each other’s sorrows and joys, hopes and dreams. A place where people can be free to express those kinds of things and where they know there will always be someone to listen. In the gospel this weekend we see how the temple in Jesus’ time had deteriorated into a place that is like a shopping mall. You have the money very exchangers who very often cheated people who needed to exchange their coins for temple coinage in order to purchase doves, lambs, or other animals for sacrifice in the temple. Jesus becomes frustrated and angry with this exploitation of those who simply wish to come and give to God of their time and treasure. When you have the blessing of a vibrant loving community surrounding you and you leave church you take that sense of those blessing into the community and you can change the world through it. I recently came across such an experience in an article carried by many of the news services a couple years ago. It happened during the war between Ukraine and Russia. Many of the Ukrainian mothers had to flee Ukraine with their infant children because of the extensive bombing and destruction. Distraught that they had to leave their husbands behind to fight, the mothers knew that they had little choice about leaving given the danger to their children. One newsman hearing of their plight followed the mothers to Poland where the mothers and their children would be safe and cared for. The newsman arrived hours before the first train was to arrive with the mothers and children from the Ukraine. As he waited in the train station, he noticed near the doorway through which the Ukrainian mothers would come was a large supply of baby carriages stacked side by side and filled to overflowing with blankets and milk supplements, and baby clothes. These have been left there by the Polish mothers who understood the trauma of war that the mothers of Ukraine were suffering from. In their sense of solidarity and community with these fleeing mothers and their children, they did the only thing they could do to help them. This news story that the journalist wrote and the pictures he took went viral across the globe. It touched people in so many ways and open their minds and hearts to importance of community and living in solidarity with others. As a community of believers, the “ekklesia” of God, the good we can do is tremendous. It does not have to cross the globe to be of great value. It only needs to touch the person next to us in order to begin to change the world.
1. en.wikipedia.org 2. SundaySermons.com
