Sunday, November 9, 2008

Feast of the Cathedral of St. John Lateran

TODAY WE CELEBRATE A CHURCH BUILDING, THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE BISHOP OF ROME. ST. JOHN LATERAN IS NOT IN THE VATICAN, AND ST. PETER'S IN THE VATICAN IS NOT THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE BISHOP OF ROME. BUT ST. JOHN IS IN A SENSE THE CENTRAL CHURCH IN CHRISTIANITY, SINCE THE BISHOP OF ROME IS ALSO THE FIRST AMONG EQUALS OF ALL THE BISHOPS IN THE WORLD.
BUT A BUILDING IS A BUILDING, RIGHT? WELL, NOT RIGHT. TO US WHO GREW UP IN OUR WESTERN CULTURE, EVEN WHEN A BUILDING HAS A LOT OF MEMORIES, A LOT OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE, PERHAPS IT IS A TRIUMPH OF ARCHITECTURE – WE TEND TO SAY IT'S STILL JUST A BUILDING. IF WE LOSE IT, WELL, THAT'S TOO BAD, BUT WE CAN ALWAYS BUILD ANOTHER.
BUT JESUS HAD A ZEAL FOR “HIS FATHER'S HOUSE”. HE OBVIOUSLY DID NOT CONSIDER THE TEMPLE AS JUST ANOTHER BUILDING. IN FACT, THE TEMPLE WAS ABSOLUTELY CENTRAL TO THE JEWISH RELIGION OF JESUS' TIME. THERE WERE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THIS. FIRST, THE TEMPLE MADE THEM A PEOPLE, TIED TO A LAND. IT LOCATED THEM IN TIME AND SPACE. SECOND, THE TEMPLE IN TERMS OF IT'S SIZE AND SHAPE AND WHAT IT WAS MADE OF WAS DICTATED BY GOD TO SOLOMON, THE JEWS BELIEVED. IT WAS NOT DESIGNED BY A HUMAN BEING. THIRD, THE TEMPLE WAS AN EARTHLY MANIFESTATION OF THE TRUE TEMPLE, THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD IN THE HEAVENS; IT WAS “HEAVEN ON EARTH”. AND FOURTH, LAST BUT GREATEST, IN SOME WAY GOD DWELT IN THE TEMPLE, ONCE IN THE ARK, BUT NOW IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES. IT WAS THE ONLY PLACE ON EARTH WHERE YAWEH COULD BE CONTACTED IN A SPECIAL WAY. WHEN THE SECOND TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED BY THE ROMANS, THE DISASTER WAS SO GREAT THAT THE JEWISH RELIGION IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM ESSENTIALLY DIED, AND JUDAISM BECAME A VERY DIFFERENT RELIGION AS A RESULT OF JEWS WHO HAD SCATTERED THROUGH THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND HAD DEVELOPED ANOTHER WAY OF BEING JEWISH. TODAY'S JEWS DESCEND FROM THESE, NOT FROM THE TEMPLE JEWS.
WE JUST FINISHED RENOVATING OUR CHURCH. THE NEW SMELL OF VARNISH IS STILL IN THE AIR, THE WALLS HAVE BEEN PAINTED, THE FLOORS REFINISHED; AND THERE WERE QUITE A FEW OF US WHO COMPLAINED THAT THIS RESTORATION WAS OVERDONE, AFTER ALL, IT IS JUST A BUILDING.
BUT IT IS NOT JUST A BUILDING. WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE THAT JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, TRUE GOD AND MAN, DWELLS HERE, IN THE BREAD OF THE EUCHARIST, WHICH IS ALWAYS RESERVED IN THE TABERNACLE, IN THE WORD WHICH IS PROCLAIMED EVERY DAY, AND IN THE SACRAMENTS WHICH ARE ADMINISTERED HERE. WE LIVE IN A TIME UNFORTUNATELY WHERE THESE TRUTHS ARE NO LONGER FELT BY A MAJORITY OF OUR FELLOW CATHOLICS; IF THEY COULD FEEL THEM, IF THEY REALLY BELIEVED THEM, HOW COULD THEY NOT COME INTO HIS PRESENCE AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK? BUT THE FACT THAT THEY NO LONGER BELIEVE DOES NOT CHANGE THE REALITY. AND THE HOUSE THAT WE PROVIDE FOR JESUS, OUR RISEN LORD, IS ALSO A PLACE WHERE WE ARE TRULY AT HOME, MORE SO THAN IN OUR OWN HOMES. WHEN WE GATHER IN OUR CHURCH, NOT ONLY IS JESUS PRESENT, BUT WE ARE PRESENT TO EACH OTHER. WE CANNOT BE CHRISTIANS BY OURSELVES; WE MUST HAVE A CONNECTION WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS. “WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME,” JESUS SAID, NOT “WHERE ONE IS GATHERED TOGETHER.”
OH, ITS POSSIBLE FOR A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY TO EXIST WITHOUT A CHURCH. WE DIDN'T HAVE ONE FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND CELEBRATED IN THE SCHOOL GYM. MY WIFE MADE HER FIRST COMMUNION IN A MOVIE THEATER WHILE THE CHURCH TO WHICH SHE EVENTUALLY BELONGED WAS BEING BUILT. THE EARLY CHRISTIANS GATHERED IN TOMBS AND IN EACH OTHER'S HOUSES. ITS POSSIBLE, LIKEWISE, FOR A CHILD TO BE RAISED SUCCESSFULLY BY A SINGLE PARENT, OR IN AN ORPHANAGE; BUT WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT THE IDEAL IS FOR THE CHILD TO BE RAISED BY A MOTHER AND FATHER UNITED IN AN UNBREAKABLE BOND OF LOVE. A CHURCH HELPS A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY GROW AND BE CHRISTIAN.
JUST AS WITH THE TEMPLE, OUR CHURCH GROUNDS US, IT CLAIMS A TERRITORY. JUST AS WITH THE TEMPLE, OUR CHURCH HAS THE IMPRINT OF HEAVEN UPON IT; WE SEE THE HOLY OF HOLIES, WHERE GOD HIMSELF DWELLS; WE SEE REPRESENTATIONS OF MARY AND THE SAINTS, REMINDING US OF OUR CONNECTION TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US, ALL WHO WAIT FOR US IN HEAVEN, ALL WHO LOOK LOVINGLY UPON US AND PRAY FOR US. AND THE WALLS AND STAINED GLASS WINDOWS SEPARATE US FROM THE WORLD, ALLOWING ONLY LIGHT TO ENTER, NOT EVEN IMAGES FROM THE WORLD OUTSIDE.
WE ARE IN A SAD PERIOD IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. CHURCHES ARE BEING CLOSED. SOME SAY, “WELL, THEY ARE ONLY BUILDINGS”. BUT OTHERS FEEL MORE DEEPLY; PERHAPS THEY HAVE BEEN GIVEN A “ZEAL” FOR THE HOUSE OF THE FATHER, AND THAT IS WHAT MOVES THEM TO MOURN WHAT IS HAPPENING.
IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST, YOU WOULD SEE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES THAT ARE NOW RUINS, OR MUSEUMS, OR PERHAPS HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO MOSQUES. IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL THROUGH THE OLD SOVIET UNION, YOU WOULD SEE CHURCHES THAT ONCE HELD WORSHIPERS, OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, BEING USED FOR LIBRARIES AND LIVESTOCK. AND IF YOU TRAVEL THROUGHOUT OUR OWN COUNTRY, YOU WILL SEE CATHOLIC CHURCHES THAT HAVE BEEN SOLD TO PROTESTANT CONGREGATIONS, OR HAVE BEEN CONVERTED INTO COMMUNITY CENTERS, OR OFFICE SPACE, OR RESTAURANTS – AND PERHAPS YOU TOO WILL HAVE A SENSE OF SADNESS THAT A BUILDING THAT MEANT SO MUCH TO SO MANY PEOPLE HAS NOW BEEN FORGOTTEN; A BUILDING THAT WAS ONCE THE HOME OF THE MOST HIGH GOD IS NOW A PLACE WHERE MONEY CHANGERS DWELL.
AND PERHAPS YOU WILL LOOK AROUND YOU AT THIS CHURCH, THIS SACRED SPACE, AND BE GRATEFUL THAT GOD HAS CHOSEN TO DWELL AMONG HIS PEOPLE. AND YOU TOO WILL REKINDLE YOUR OWN ZEAL FOR THE HOUSE OF GOD.
TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE CHURCH WHICH IS THE CATHEDRAL OF THE BISHOP OF ROME. AND WE CELEBRATE EVERY CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND ESPECIALLY OUR OWN CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND PRAY THAT OUR CATHOLIC BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN LONGMEADOW WHO NO LONGER JOIN US IN WORSHIP, WHO NO LONGER ENTER THIS SACRED SPACE, WILL BE MOVED TO COME BACK TO THEIR TRUE HOME.