Fr. Paul Pecchie
Dedicating church buildings seems to be something the ancient Christians loved to do. Perhaps because most places in which we live have already established church buildings, we don’t think of it as much. There is a Christian woman from the fourth century named Egeria who wrote in her diary about her experience as a pilgrim in Jerusalem. She arrived in the city not long after the Lateran Basilica was dedicated in Rome. She writes about the celebration on the anniversary of the dedication of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It was a big deal! She writes:
“When this Feast of the Dedications is at hand, it is observed for a period of eight days. Many days beforehand a crowd of monks and consecrated virgins begins gathering together from various provinces, not only from Mesopota mia and Syria, from Egypt and the Thebaid, where the monks are numerous, but also from all other places and provinces. In fact, there is no one who would not go to Jerusalem on this day for such solemn liturgy and for such a splendid feast. Lay people, both men and women, also gather together in Jerusalem on these days from all prov inces in the spirit of faith and on account of the feast day. Though fewer in number, there are still more than forty or fifty bishops in Jerusalem during these days, and with them come many of their clergy. What can I add? Everyone considers that he has fallen into great sin if he is not pre sent on days of such solemnity, unless there be conflicting obligations, such as would keep a man from fulfilling a good intention. During the Feast of the Dedications, the decoration of all the churches is similar to that at Easter and at Epiphany, and on each day, they assemble for the liturgy in various holy places, just as at Easter and at Epiphany.” —Chapter 49, from Egeria: Diary of a Pilgrimage.
Unlike the Temple in Jerusalem, which was built and destroyed by human hands, Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, was and is indestructible. This is the difference between the Old and New Covenants: the New Covenant will last forever. This is also the reason why the Catholic Church, in spite of the nonstop attempts to destroy it that have been made throughout history, is indestructible.
The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ; Christ is present in each one of its members, as St Paul reminds us in 1 Cor 3:9-11,16-17. And so, since Christ is indestructible, so is the Church: the “gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
When we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St John Lateran in Rome, which took place in 324 AD. This Basilica was the first permanent, public place of worship for Christians in the world. Why did it take 300 years to build our first church? Because until that time the power and might of the Roman Empire was determined to utterly destroy the Christian religion. Christians refused to worship the pagan gods (they only worshipped the one, true God, Jesus Christ), and so they were considered enemies of the state. They were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and cruelly executed when they wouldn’t burn incense to Caesar. Waves of violent persecution crashed against the Church for 300 years, creating a steady stream of martyrs.
Only when the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 312 was the Church free to breathe a sigh of relief, and with that breath, they built the Lateran Basilica. Ever since, it has been a symbol of that first great victory of the Church, which showed the whole world that this new Temple, the Mystical Body of Christ, was indestructible.
In the Gospel, of John (2:31-32) we read that Jesus twisted a cord, the scourge was an instrument that drove people away from the temple. An interesting reflection comes to us from St. Augustine. He says,
“Our Lord intended a meaning to be seen in His making a scourge of small cords, and then scourging those who were carrying on the merchandize in the temple. Everyone by his sins twists for himself a cord, in that he goes on adding sin to sin. So then when men suffer for their iniquities, let them be sure that it is the Lord making a scourge of small cords, and admonishing them to change their lives.” This can tell us something about our own lives and what are sins are doing to us. Our sins drive us away from God and twist our lives into knots. To undo sin in our lives, we must begin removing sin, one twisted cord at a time. Undoing the knot of sin is how we will find true freedom in life.