Dedication of St. John Lateran

Homily for the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran

Today we celebrate neither the death of a saint, nor the birth of someone significant. We celebrate the dedication of a specific church in the city of Rome: the Basilica of St. John Lateran. It bears the name of both St. John the Baptist and St. John the evangelist as well as the name “Lateran,” which refers to the family who donated the land upon which it is built.

It is surprising to some that so much attention would be given not to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, but this Cathedral on the other side of Rome. But its importance is it because of artistic beauty or popularity with tourists. It recalls a pivotal moment in the life of the church. The dedication of this church occurred nearly three centuries after Jesus’s life and resurrection. In those centuries, thousands upon thousands of Christians who had heard Jesus’ great commission to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth had been martyred for doing so in what was considered the center of the earth – Rome.

On this day in the year 324, it was no longer a crime to be a Christian. The persecution of Christians had ended as they had evangelized the entire empire. The Christian people no longer had to hide their faith. They could boldly, proudly, and publicly profess. The very first public Cathedral, which would be the “seat” of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), was dedicated this day.

A few centuries before this pivotal moment, St. Paul wrote his fellow Christians the words we heard proclaimed today: “You are God’s building – you are the temple of God… the Spirit of God dwells in you.” In Jesus Christ, the importance of physical buildings is never greater than that of the soul of each and every one of the Christians who were “dedicated” as the temple of God at baptism. We celebrate this feast not just to remember a particular building or date in history, but to remember all our brothers and sisters who laid down their lives to evangelize the Roman Empire.

There is a subtle trap in this celebration; namely, to use this day to reflect on the past with nostalgia. However, this day is given to us to hear of Jesus Christ’s zeal for God’s house. That zeal drove him to cleanse the physical Temple of Jerusalem. Jesus has even greater zeal for us as temples of God where his Spirit dwells. Consequently, this day is a day for us to rededicate ourselves and to reignite our zeal for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Just as Jesus dwells in the tabernacle of every church and Basilica and Cathedral in Christendom, Jesus will also come to dwell within us as we receive him in this most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.