Homily for November 9, 2003
Year B - Cycle I
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. John Carney
Topic:  One, Holy, Catholic Church
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Second Reading:   I Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17

"Brothers and sisters:  You are God's building.  According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it.  But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy."

Every time I hear the name St. John Lateran (actually the name of the church is something like “The Basilica of Our Risen Savior Jesus Christ and St. John the Baptist at the Lateran.”  It’s got a very, very long, technical name!), I smile.  I was there a couple of years ago on a pilgrimage.   Basilicas really weren’t churches, originally; they were meeting places for the Romans, very large buildings.  They don’t look like churches.  They are very, very large, and they are rectangular, generally, and they very seldom have steeples and the like.  That’s what St. John Lateran looks like. 

So anyway, one day on this pilgrimage we were taking a break and another pilgrim named Ed O’Leary and I grabbed a snack and then went walking around in separate directions.  We weren’t together.  During this time, I was attacked by a group of gypsies.  They have a technique.  Oftentimes a woman with either a baby or a doll and pretending it’s a baby, with several kids around her, will see an easy target and close in on him (or her), begging.  And what they do is surround you, and they put their hands in your pockets and they take your money.  The Italians, they have no trouble with gypsies.  They just smack them, but I can’t.  No way!  She saw this easy mark, this priest, and I’m going, “Oh, no!”  I looked across the way and Ed O’Leary was dying of laughter, just laughing!  So I thought quickly, and I said to them, “Presidente banco!”  Zoom!  And Ed O’Leary and I got on the bus where I was safe.  That’s a true story.

So today we are celebrating the anniversary of a church.  It’s kind of strange to come together to do that.  But let me give you a little history of the church of St. John Lateran.  In the times of the Emperor Nero, there was a family named Lateran, Lateranus, who owned some very prestigious property and buildings in a certain area of Rome.  The family fell in Nero’s disfavor, and they were executed.  And, of course, he confiscated the property.  Then, later on, when Emperor Constantine became a Christian, and therefore stopped the persecution against Christians, Constantine felt that the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, needed a worthy place in which to rule the church.  So, he gave him this property at the Lateran.  The Basilica was completed under Pope Sylvester I, and it was entitled “The Basilica of Our Risen Savior Jesus Christ.”  Several centuries later, John the Baptist’s name was added.  Somehow John bumped his cousin from the main title.  It’s called “The Church of St. John at the Lateran” today.

It is the Cathedral Church of the city of Rome.  The word Cathedral comes from the Latin word “chair,” which means where the Bishop’s chair is, because the chair is the place of teaching, of power.  You often hear that in universities, where there are titles such as the “Chair of History”.  And in ancient times, professors used to teach seated.  The greater you were, the more sure you were to be seated when you were teaching, because it was a sign of your brilliance and of your power.  As a matter of fact, I think the Holy Father, if he’s healthy enough, is probably celebrating Mass, or has celebrated Mass, at his cathedral church at the Lateran today.

This church has had a very interesting history over the past 1,700 years.  It was the home of the papacy for 1,000 of those years.  After Rome fell to the barbarians from the north, it was destroyed.  It was destroyed once by earthquake, and twice by fire.  And in the 14^th century, the Pope was taken captive to Avignon, in what is today France.  And when he came back to the Lateran, in the 1380’s or so, it was in total disrepair and he couldn’t live there.  So he moved to an area close by, where the church owned some property, on a hill called the Vatican.  And he’s been there ever since.  Although the Basilica was repaired, the Holy Father stayed at the Vatican, and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul was still there.  We now call that St. Peter’s.  So, the Pope has ruled from St. Peter’s for only 600 years or so.  He ruled from St. John Lateran for 1,000 years.

Well, that’s all interesting, but why do we gather, on a feast day (and actually this feast is so great that it overtakes the 32^nd week in Ordinary Time that we would normally celebrate today), but we’re certainly not here to worship or to give homage to a building of bricks and stone and mortar.  St. John Lateran is important because it stands for something.  We’re here to celebrate that the Church is old.  And the Church is one, holy, catholic and universal church.  St. John Lateran is our symbol of that.  Above the doors of the Basilica, it says “The Mother and Head of All Churches of the city of Rome and of the World.”  It is so, because that is where Peter resides, Peter who was given the keys to the kingdom by Jesus Christ.  But the Church that we are members of is not a building at all.  The Church is the Body of Christ, as St. Paul reminds us so often, and other writers as well. 

In today’s second reading, we hear Paul say that Jesus is the foundation of the Church, and that we are living stones.  Elsewhere, St. Peter says the apostles are the foundation, and Jesus is the capstone.  So, the Church is a living thing.  In the first reading, we hear the beautiful, poetic imagery used by Ezekiel the prophet.  He talked about the temple.  For the Jews, the temple was where God lived.  Some thought God actually was almost constrained to live there.  In any case, the temple was the center of their religious faith.  Ezekiel writes that, “from this temple, living waters flow.”  And they flow, and they make salt waters fresh, and wherever they flow there is vegetation and life and vitality and health.  Well, Paul uses Ezekiel’s imagery to describe our church, the Catholic Church, because from the waters of the Body of Christ, from the side of Christ, the waters flow.  And wherever it flows, it brings vitality and salvation and health.

The problem is it’s a lot easier just to have a building made of stones than a building made of people.  People get into trouble.  And that’s happened over 2,000 years of our Church history.  The Church is beset, not by earthquakes and fires, but by the ravages of sin and scandal, as we know so well.  Absolute incompetent leadership at times.  Some of the popes have been deeply flawed.  We know many bishops have been terrible leaders.  And we know many priests have committed terrible sins in their office.  In spite of that, this old Church is alive.  It is also ravaged by unfaithfulness and division and dissention, when its members just spit out the truth of the Church and make up their own minds about every matter of dogma and doctrine.  But she’s still here, this Church.  She’s old, but she’s alive.  Indeed, there are over one billion of us, worldwide.  There are 60 million Catholics in the United States, 300,000 in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, and I’m not sure how many here.  We have 1,150 families registered.  Now, typically, half of all Catholics register, and then half of those attend Mass on Sunday.  So we probably have 3,500 or 4,000 Catholics in White Rock and Los Alamos, who are members of the Catholic Church here locally.  So, we celebrate this Church of ours.

I’ve traveled the world, as many of you have, and I love to go to churches in foreign lands – the more exotic, the better.  I know what the priest is saying, except in the Homily…just like in this country, right?  Like when he says, in whatever language, he says, “The Lord be with you, John” and I say, “And also with you.”  I know he’s saying, “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  Because we’re universal, that’s what the word “catholic” means.  So we celebrate this Church.  Our local Church has celebrated 150 years, since becoming a diocese in 1853 when Bishop Lamy of France, was appointed by the Holy Father to lead this local Church of Santa Fe.  Actually, we’re 405 years old, though, because the Franciscans brought the faith to this land in 1598.  When was Plymouth Rock?  1620.  That ain’t nothing!  It was 1598 when Christianity came to this beautiful land we call home.  Our church, Immaculate Heart of Mary, is 57 years old.  She was born in 1946.  And I’ll tell you something, anything born in 1946 is marvelous to behold….  She’s looking better at 57 than I am, isn’t she? 

Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish.  We gather in this beautiful place, day after day, week after week, to show God that we’re here and that we are present to him.  This church, this beautiful church, was built by you, the living stones of this church, through your hard work and contributions and support.  And this church stands here on Canyon Road as an example and as a tangible witness to the universal Catholic Church throughout the world.  This church and St. Joseph’s chapel in White Rock, are just part of this bigger church, this larger Body of Christ.  So we are not an independent church.  When I came here as your pastor, the first thing I did was recite the Oath of Fidelity that I took before I was ordained a priest.  It’s not my church.  I don’t give you my gospel, I preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I preach and teach what the Church teaches.  I have no right to do otherwise.  I would violate my oath.  And it should be that way in every Catholic Church throughout the entire world.  We’re together, we are one, we are one body.  This church stands, again, as a witness to a Catholic identity.  Oftentimes I have said, and I mean it not in an arrogant or bragging way, that we’re better than “that” church.  We’re better, and older, than everybody.  We’re better than “that” church – that’s the farthest thing from my mind.  But I feel so blessed to be Catholic.  I was given this gift of faith by God and passed on by my parents, and what a blessing it is.  And the more you travel, and the more you see the rest of your Church throughout the world, the more precious you realize this Body of Christ is. 

And so we gather today, and this is a holy place.  This building is also sacred, because Christ lives here.  And you gather here in His name, and bring His presence as well.  This is a place where we present ourselves to God, our sorrows and our joys.  Many of you were baptized here, or received their first Holy Communion here, or were confirmed here, or were married here. Fr. Tim Bird was ordained a priest here, and still serves the church in California.  Many of you have had your sins absolved here.  (By the way, I was so busy with confessions yesterday it wasn’t funny.  I must have heard 35 of them.  That’s because I nagged you the week before.  Look, I ain’t going to give up.  So you just go!  There I am, on Thursdays and Saturdays, and any other time you can grab me to hear your confession.  It’s a very important sacrament. And I’ll tell you.  In that confessional, I go through a box of Kleenex in a week, and I’m not the one who uses it.  So much healing goes on in that confessional.  Don’t deprive yourself of that.)  Many of you have received the Sacrament of the Sick here.  And you know, many of you will be buried from here.  This will be where you spend the night before you are buried in the ground the following day at your funeral.  This is a very sacred and holy place.  And we are so blessed to gather here in the name of Jesus, Sunday after Sunday.  How blessed we are. 

I’d like to conclude now with the priest’s prayer. 

Gracious God, we are your people, embraced by your love.  We thank you for your presence with us, throughout all time.  As we celebrate the gift of your Holy Catholic Church, create us anew.  Liberate us from that which keeps us from you.  Transform us to live your word more profoundly.  Awaken us to the sacred.  Nurture our relationships.  Enliven our parish.  Reunite our families.  Fill us with joy to celebrate the fullness of life.  Empower us to be a community of love growing in your likeness.

And now we will consecrate once again this parish to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  This is a prayer of consecration, said by Pope Paul VI. 

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Mother.  We consecrate ourselves to you today, so that you may live in us and speak in and through us.  Think your thoughts in our minds.  Love through our hearts.  Give us your own dispositions and feelings.  Lead and guide us to Jesus.  Correct and enlighten our thoughts and behaviors.  Make our hearts and homes your shrine.  And through us, make the heart of Jesus rule in triumph in our families, our country, and our world.  We pray, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.