{"id":2606,"date":"2008-11-09T09:08:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-09T09:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/11\/homily-for-november-9-2008-dedication-of-st-john-lateran-basilica.html"},"modified":"2008-11-09T09:08:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-09T09:08:00","slug":"homily-for-november-9-2008-dedication-of-st-john-lateran-basilica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/11\/homily-for-november-9-2008-dedication-of-st-john-lateran-basilica.html","title":{"rendered":"Homily for November 9, 2008: Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is one of the more unusual feasts on the church calendar. It doesn\u2019t commemorate a saint, or a biblical event. It celebrates a building. Specifically, the Lateran Basilica, in Rome. It\u2019s the oldest of the four major basilicas in Rome, and as such serves as the official \u201chome\u201d of the pope \u2013 the seat of the bishop of Rome. St. Peter\u2019s gets all the attention, but it\u2019s the Lateran that is really the \u201cpope\u2019s church.\u201d <\/p>\n

A few years ago, my wife and I got to visit Rome and see the Lateran. You\u2019ll find some remarkable objects \u2013 above the altar there are relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. There is also wood that is said to come from the table of the Last Supper. <\/p>\n

<\/a>But one of the most striking spots is actually outside the church. If you go to the square across the street, you\u2019ll see a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, with his arms outstretched. It commemorates an important moment in church history: the Lateran is where Francis went to ask the pope for permission to start a religious order. And if you remember the story, his inspiration was a voice that he heard in prayer, a voice that told Francis \u201cRebuild my church.\u201d <\/p>\n

Well, if you step back from the statue of Francis and stand behind it, and look at it from a particular angle, between St. Francis\u2019s outstretched arms you see the Lateran Basilica. He appears to be holding it up with his hands. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great image \u2013 and a great lesson.<\/p>\n

A church building is brick and mortar, wood and glass. But \u2013 ultimately \u2013 it is supported by the arms and the labor of those who love it. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, it is people. <\/p>\n

It is you. It is me. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou are God\u2019s building,\u201d Paul writes to the Corinthians. \u201cYou are the temple of God and the Spirit dwells in you.\u201d <\/p>\n

And it is up to us to keep the spirit \u2013 and to spread it \u2013 and to help it to dwell in others. <\/p>\n

This Sunday, we\u2019re marking \u201cStewardship Sunday\u201d or \u201cCommitment Sunday.\u201d You\u2019ll be seeing a short movie about that at the end of mass. I think it shows in a beautiful way how our arms support this church \u2013 how we all, together, lift it up to God. And how we then become God\u2019s building, His dwelling place. Indeed, when we receive the Eucharist, as we will in a few moments, we become living tabernacles. <\/p>\n

And it all begins here, in this<\/u> tabernacle, this temple of God. <\/p>\n

Many of you may remember Gene Flood, a longtime parishioner here. Gene was an important part of this parish\u2019s history: he was the first baby baptized in this church. And nearly eight decades later, at his funeral here, his casket was sprinkled with holy water from the same font in which he was baptized. It was a beautiful reminder of how we mark so much of our sacramental lives within these walls. From baptisms to funerals and a thousand moments in between. <\/p>\n

We are church. But this<\/u> church, in ways large and small, is us<\/u>. It is where we measure and mark our lives. And it becomes a part of us. <\/p>\n

But there is one part that cannot be emphasized enough. <\/p>\n

In his autobiography, Thomas Merton wrote, \u201cI thought churches were simply places where people got together and sang a few hymns\u2026and yet now I tell you, it is the Sacrament\u2026Christ living in our midst\u2026it is He alone who holds our world together.\u201d <\/p>\n

That is what this is really all about. That\u2019s why we are here. That\u2019s why we have the youth programs and the choir and RCIA and pastoral care and all the things that stewardship supports. It is to ensure that this sacrament, Christ living in our midst, continues to hold our world together through all that the parish does, all our ministers do, all that we<\/u> do, together. <\/p>\n

We do it because of this: the One who draws us to this sacred place. The One who nourishes our hopes, and who calms our fears, and who makes of each of us \u2013 with all our flaws and imperfections \u2013 his tabernacle. <\/p>\n

It is all because of Christ in the Eucharist. <\/p>\n

Remember that. Cherish that. And celebrate it. <\/p>\n

Because when all is said and done, that is really what we are supporting. <\/p>\n

Our prayer should be that we do that with joy, and with zeal and — like that statue of St. Francis shows — with open arms and open hearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is one of the more unusual feasts on the church calendar. It doesn\u2019t commemorate a saint, or a biblical event. It celebrates a building. Specifically, the Lateran Basilica, in Rome. 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Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. You can contact Deacon Greg at dcngreg@gmail.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/gkandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}