Father Chas Canoy
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In this homily, Father Chas reflects on the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the mother church of all Catholic churches. He reminds us of the Church’s universality, longevity, and Christ’s unbreakable promise that “the gates of hell will never prevail against her.”
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Father Chas:
So we’re today celebrating the dedication of St. John Lateran. Now, there are four major basilicas in Rome: St. John Lateran, then there’s St. Peter and St. Paul Basilicas, as well as one to Our Lady.
The highest ranking of those four is not, as grand as St. Peter’s is, St. Peter’s Basilica. It might be the greater work of art for sure and the world headquarters, if you will. But of those four major basilicas, the highest ranking one is St. John Lateran.
By virtue of the fact that that’s the cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Rome. So the reason why our parish and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world celebrates today the dedication of a church in Rome is because it’s the mother church of all Catholic churches.
So celebrating the dedication of this church reminds us about the universality of the Church — that we are part of something that crosses all racial, ethnic, national, social, and other man-made divisions of the human family. We are a part of God’s family with Jesus Christ as our head.
And the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ until he returns. Now, the second thing today’s feast highlights is the longevity of the Church. The original dedication of the Lateran Basilica happened on this very day, the 9th of November, all the way back in 324. Since then, over these 1,700 years, the Church has seen empires and powerful states all around the world rise and fall. And yet, she remains — and will remain until the end of time when Christ her head returns to consummate all things. History is His story. History is His story.
So brothers and sisters, whatever the state of our nation is in, whatever political ideology is in vogue, whatever the prevailing temporal powers that rise and fall in our world, and despite even the internal strife within the Church herself, there is one thing of which we can be sure, right? The gates of hell will never prevail against her.
You can bank on Christ’s promise. And we have the privilege and the honor of upholding that tradition here in our parish, the Mother Church of Jackson, whose cathedral church is St. Mary’s in Lansing, the seat of a successor of the apostle, which in turn ultimately has her roots in the Omnium Ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis Mater et Caput — the mother and the head of all churches of the city of Rome and of the world.