Today is the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. In the same way that Saint Mary Cathedral is Bishop Danny Garcia’s church, “Saint John Lateran is the pope’s church, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome where the Bishop of Rome presides. . . Pope Innocent X commissioned the present structure in 1646. One of Rome’s most imposing churches, the Lateran’s towering facade is crowned with 15 colossal statues of Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and 12 doctors of the Church. Beneath its high altar rest the remains of the small wooden table on which tradition holds Saint Peter himself celebrated Mass. . . In a sense, St. John Lateran is the parish church of all Catholics, because it is the pope’s cathedral. This church is the spiritual home of the people who are the Church.” (Fransican Media).
Why are we celebrating a building in Rome? As today’s readings remind us, the Church is our Mother and our home. The parish church is not just a building, but the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist dwells in every tabernacle of every parish church all over the world. And from the parish church flows the graces of the Sacraments that we receive - Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and, of course, the Eucharist. The graces of the sacraments is like the water flowing from the temple, wherever it flowed, “every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish. . . Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
This image of the water flowing from the temple recalls to mind Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well when our Lord “answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” (John 4:13-14). Jesus gives us living water that nourishes us - body, mind, spirit, and soul - and invites us to drink from this well-spring of life, saying: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him’” (John 7:37-38). When we come to Mass and receive Holy Communion regularly, this “living water” flows within us and strengthens us for the challenges that we face in our daily lives.
Moreover, in his letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul reminds us of this important truth about who we are as Catholic Christians, saying: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” We see Jesus doing exactly that when he cleansed the temple area of the money-changers, saying: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." If we allow Christ to do so, he can cleanse our bodies of those things that are not of God so that the Spirit of the Lord can shine forth brightly from our soul. This is Jesus’ promise to us, through the Sacrament of Baptism: “If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:8-11).
And so, my sisters and brothers in Christ, the Church is not merely a building, but a “field hospital for sinners” (Pope Francis). Holy Mother Church, the Bride of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, heals us with the living water that flows from the graces of her Sacraments that we receive. Let us always look to her with faith, hope, and love in our lives.
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