9 November 2022
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
For some, today’s feast, understandably, might seem strange: celebrating the dedication of some unknown church somewhere.
But in 324 AD, this church became the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, and for more than ten centuries, before St. Peter’s in the Vatican was built, it was the pope’s church, the place in where five councils took place.
So, today’s feast is the celebration of unity of each of our parish churches, governed by our pastors and local bishops in unity with the Bishop of Rome, of maintainig unity while encouraging diversity, as Vatican II decreed.
At the same time, it should remind us that the real bond of unity is Jesus, who declared himself the Temple, and to which, by our baptism, we are made part of. Our bodies are a place wherein the Holy Spirit dwells, provided we are not in mortal sin, where the Eucharist enters, uniting us closer to the source of our unity and to one another.
So, it is the Church universal, not just a church in far-off Rome that we celebrate today. The basilica of the Lateran is the symbol of that unity.
Resolved: Today I will dedicate some special prayers thanking God for the Church, asking him to solder it ever closer to Jesus, to expand it and to rescue those who have left it, and I shall say some prayers for the intention of our Holy Father and my local bishop.