Celebrating the Dedication of St John Lateran Basilica

The Roman Pontiff in his Angelus last Sunday, explained about the feast of the dedication of Rome’s Basilica of St John Lateran. Built under Pope Melchiade in the early 300s, the basilica is the oldest Christian church in the world, and serves as Rome’s cathedral.

Nov 13, 2014

ROME: The Roman Pontiff in his Angelus last Sunday, explained about the feast of the dedication of Rome’s Basilica of St John Lateran. Built under Pope Melchiade in the early 300s, the basilica is the oldest Christian church in the world, and serves as Rome’s cathedral.

He referred to how the Lateran basilica is often referred to in tradition as the “mother of all the churches of the city and the world,” saying that the term “mother” refers to the work of the Holy Spirit who is manifested there, rather than the building itself.

Each time the dedication of a church is celebrated, we are reminded of the essential truth that the material structure is, in fact, a sign of the Church living and working throughout history, the Bishop of Rome explained.

In the day’s Gospel, Jesus reveals the “shocking truth (that) the temple of God is not only the building made of bricks, but it is his body, made up of living stones,” the Pope observed, noting how each person automatically becomes another living stone in this spiritual building through their baptism.

The spiritual building, which is the Church’s community of men and women sanctified by the death and resurrection of Christ, calls on each baptized person to live the faith they receive coherently in their daily lives, the Pope continued.

“And it’s not easy, we all know it, this coherence in life between faith and witness; but we need to go forward and make this daily coherence in our lives,” he said, explaining that a Christian is not known for what he says so much as for what he does.

It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the grace to live this coherence, the pontiff noted, saying that we should ask for this gift in order to both live the faith courageously and to bear witness to charity, which are not separate things, but rather, go together.

When meditating on the dedication of the Lateran basilica we also reflect on the communion of all churches throughout the world, he said, which motivates us to commit ourselves to overcoming all “barriers of enmity and indifference.”

By making this commitment, we also commit ourselves “to build bridges of understanding and of dialogue, in order to make the whole world a family of peoples reconciled with each other, brotherly and harmonious,” the pontiff observed.

He concluded by pointing out how the Church herself is a sign of anticipation of this reconciliation through her message of hope and witness to the Gospel. -- CNA/EWTN

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