Transcript
This is one of the more unusual feasts on the Church’s calendar. It doesn’t commemorate a saint, or a biblical event. It celebrates a building, specifically, the Lateran Basilica, in Rome. It’s the oldest of the four major basilicas in Rome, and as such serves as the official “home” of the pope, the seat of the bishop of Rome. I know that St. Peter’s gets all the attention but, it’s the Lateran that is really the “pope’s church.” The land to build the church was given by Emperor Constantine after his conversion. Before that, the Christians gathered in secret, away from the crowds, not wanting to draw attention to themselves, afraid to proclaim the message of the Good News. So the building of this church, the Lateran, completed in 324, symbolically proclaims the Church coming out from the shadows, not afraid to proclaim openly and confidently Christ’s reign and the Kingdom of God. A proclamation that would go to the ends of the world. A proclamation that is received anew in your hearing this morning. So, this feast is not so much about a church in Rome, but about the Church, our Church, your Church, and the proclamation and witness to the Kingdom of God that continues to this very day. We, the Church, we are the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Your church, just like the Lateran Basilica, is special, not just because of its bricks and mortars or its architectural style; the building is significant because of what flows from it, the Body of Christ, missionary disciples, sent into the world, sent into your community to be Christ’s living presence in the world. The building of the Lateran Basilica was the early believers statement that they were prepared to share the Good News openly, confidently, defiantly. Likewise, your presence at your church this day echoes that determination to be a witness to our brothers and sisters of the love of God made real in Christ Jesus. The builders of the Lateran knew, just as much as the builders of your church knew, that the Church is made up of living, breathing men and women, each endowed with the dignity that comes from recognising that we are all children of God, created for a purpose which is reflected in the lives we live today as we leave our church and live the Good News.