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This past week, the Church celebrated the Dedication of the Cathedral of St. John Lateran in Rome. The whole Church celebrates this day as a special feast. The obvious question arises: Why? No doubt St. John Lateran is a lovely cathedral. No doubt people in Rome think highly of it. No doubt it is good that it was dedicated. But why proclaim a feast about it? After all, it is just a building, and buildings come and go. The essence of the Church is surely not in any structure, however useful or beautiful. To celebrate the great deeds of Jesus Christ, yes. To celebrate the lives of the great saints, fine. But the dedication centuries ago of a building in a city thousands of miles away? What's to celebrate? What has this to do with us?
As it happens, it has much to do with us, especially in these days when the Church of Jesus Christ is spread through every land and on every continent. The importance of the dedication of St. John Lateran is just this: it is a special celebration of the unity of the human race brought about by the Holy Spirit.
In the book of Genesis, we read about the Tower of Babel. It recounts the attempt of the human race, in its pride, to build a structure that would reach to heaven. It is a symbol of the constant attempt by proud humanity to gain heaven by our own means, to think that we can, with our own wit and strength, attain to perfection. What came of this prideful endeavor is what always comes from pride: division and hatred. Language became confused, and the unity of the human race was lost.
When Christ sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, an amazing thing occurred. People from different lands and races each heard the Gospel in their own tongue. The curse of Babel was reversed, and the unity of the human race was restored by the only possible path: by being filled with the Spirit of God. This unity has not been completely accomplished, and won't be until the coming of Christ and the establishment of the reign of God once and for all. But the Church is the sign and the seed of that new unity, of that new human race begun in Jesus. This is why unity among the Christian people is so important. It is a sign of our heavenly birthright, an anticipation of the unity of heaven.
So back to our feast day. St. John Lateran is the Cathedral Church of the Pope, the first Cathedral Church ever established in Rome. As the Holy Father is the sign of the unity of the Church, his Cathedral Church is the representation of that unity in brick and stone. It bears the title that is written upon its walls: Omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater, et caput, "Mother and head of all the Churches of the city and of the world."
Like the Church herself, St. John Lateran has had its ups and downs. It was sacked and robbed by barbarians, ravaged by an earthquake, destroyed twice by fire. Each time it was rebuilt yet stronger and larger, just as the Church rises from the ashes of seeming defeat in every age, stronger, purer, greater in extent than before.
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St. John Lateran reminds us of the importance of our connection to Rome, to the Holy Father, to the worldwide Church. This is not just a historical connection, much less a bureaucratic one. We look to Rome as our home, our center, the sign of our unity with brothers and sisters from around the world and from across the ages. We maintain that unity as a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom. If we desire true unity, if we long for genuine peace, if we wish to see an end to warfare and division, it is here, and only here, that the solution will be found. As blessed Pope John XXIII wrote (from the Encyclical "On Truth, Unity and Peace):
"It is the will of God, the Church's founder, that all the sheep should eventually gather into this one fold, under the guidance of one shepherd. All God's children are summoned to their father's only home, and its cornerstone is Peter. All people should work together like brothers and sisters to become part of this single kingdom of God; for the citizens of that kingdom are united in peace and harmony on earth that they might enjoy eternal happiness some day in heaven."
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CONTENTS OF A DEAD MAN'S POCKET: In Jack Finney's short story, Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket, Tom Benecke has spent months working on a proposal for the supermarket chain where he works. He had copied the results of his research and other critical data on a yellow piece of paper. One frigid night, after his wife Clare leaves to go to the movies, Tom stays in their small apartment to write his proposal. An unexpected blast of cold air from the hallway blows the yellow piece of paper out a window where it becomes lodged on a ledge just beyond Tom's reach, 11 stories above the street. Desperation trumping common sense, Tom makes his way out the apartment window onto the ledge, but becomes trapped. Contemplating his death, Tom is filled with fear and anger as he realizes all they'd find in his pocket would be the yellow piece of paper.
CONNECTION: God calls us to seek much more precious and lasting gifts than this world is capable of offering; treasures like reconciliation and peace. We must give up the attitudes and adversaries that make possessing the things of God impossible. May our eyes remain open and our spirits always be aware of the true treasures of this life that are ours for the asking, if we are wise and generous enough to let go of mere things to reach for them.
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