Holy Mother Church – Lateran Basilica
The Lateran Basilica is the cathedra (seat) of the bishop of Rome, the Pope. Today’s feast marks the dedication of that cathedral by Pope Sylvester I in 324. There are many minor basilicas, but only four major basilicas (all in Rome), and just one archbasilica. The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist is unique, and arguably the most important church building on earth. Not because it is the oldest basilica in Rome, and not because of its long and unusual name, but because it is the Pope’s own cathedral, and in many ways, it is every Catholic’s “home church”.
Inscribed on this church are the words: “The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.” When I hear the words, “the mother…of all churches” I cannot help but think of Our Lady.
Whenever we think of the Church and the Temple, we think of Jesus Christ, because the Church is the body of Christ. We should also think of Our Lady, the perfect and first disciple – our model, inspiration, and maternal helper. St Pope John Paul II taught us that “The blessed Virgin is intimately united to Christ and to the Church, and she is inseparable from one and the other.” (Angelus 1984-02-12) Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium describes Our Lady as the “outstanding model in faith and charity” for the Church. As a model, we not only admire her, but we seek the grace to desire for and actually allow the Holy Spirit to empower us to emulate her in every way, and to obey her command to do whatever he tells us.
As we consider the temple, and the Church, it seems particularly appropriate to give Our Lady some thought in light of last week’s Mater Populi Fidelis from the Vatican clarifying some Marian titles, and affirming both her cooperation in the work of salvation, and Jesus Christ as the Church’s one foundation. And, speaking of foundations, isn’t it beautiful that the archbasilica is first dedicated to Christ the Savior, and then to the prophet and apostle? The pillars are carved into the likeness of the apostles, and the church is named after John and John, but the foundation is Christ himself.
A church is sacred, and exists entirely for the purpose of encountering and praising God. This is true of the physical building, which is why Father probably has a difficult time restraining himself from making a whip of small cords to address our incessant chit-chat in the Church. It is true of the Body of Christ, the Church, and of our Lady. Mary, our mother, is the Mother of the Church, and she is the icon of the Church. When we look upon one, we behold the other. In each of the following, we can say “Our Lady” or we can say “The Church”: She is the Ark of the New Covenant. She is the living shrine of the Word of God. She is the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. She reveals the Mystery of the Son to us, and gives him to us. She is dedicated entirely to proclaiming the goodness and glory of God. I wonder how true these things are of us, who are also members of the body of Christ, the Church. Do we only look upon the Virgin (and indeed all of the Saints) with admiration, or do we indeed look upon her (and them) as our model and inspiration?
In Ezekiel, we see there is a trickle of water, which flows from the altar into the world, becoming broader and deeper, making that which is dead and deadly alive and life-giving. The Blessed Virgin conceived an embryo by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to an infant, who grew to full stature, and from whose pierced side the Church was born of “baptismal water and eucharistic blood” (Chrysostom). Father Maggioni wrote for the jubilee year that “Mary is the icon of the Church, virgin and mother, who, by the power of the Spirit, brings Christ to new birth in the faithful. …[T]he inscription in the baptistry of the Lateran Basilica says: «At this font, the Church, our mother, gives birth from her virginal womb to the children she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit».” (Corrado Maggioni Jubilee 2000) And now, the body of Christ, the Church, and through her, the Holy Spirit, fills the world with life and grace.
While there are eschatological interpretations of Ezekiel’s vision, the new doctrinal note tells us that [a]mong the Fathers of the Church, many saw [the waters] as already referring to believers….[W]e ourselves are transformed by Christ’s grace and become springs for others. Origen explained that the Lord [causes] streams of water to flow out from us: “the human soul, made in the image of God, can itself contain and pour forth wells, fountains, and rivers.” Saint Ambrose recommended drinking from the open side of Christ, “in order that the spring of water welling up to eternal life may overflow in you.” Saint Thomas Aquinas expressed it by saying that if a believer “hastens to share various gifts of grace received from God, living water flows from his heart.” Through the ministry of the Church, we receive the Spirit, who transforms us and through us brings grace to the world.
If this holds true for every believer — whose cooperation with Christ becomes increasingly fruitful to the extent that one allows oneself to be transformed by grace — how much more must it be affirmed of Mary in a unique and supreme way. For she is the one who is “full of grace” (Lk 1:28) and who said, without putting any obstacle in God’s work, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). She is the Mother who gave the world the Author of Redemption and of Grace, who stood firm at the foot of the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), suffering alongside her Son and offering the pain of her maternal heart pierced by the sword (cf. Lk 2:35). From the Incarnation to the cross and the Resurrection, she was united to Christ in a way that is unique and that far surpasses any other believer.
Mater Populi Fidelis goes on to remind is that [a]ll of this is not on account of her own merits but because Christ’s merits on the Cross were applied to her fully — in a particular and anticipatory way — for the glory of the one Lord and Savior. She is, in the end, a hymn to the efficacy of God’s grace such that any acknowledgment of her beauty immediately points back to the glorification of the original source of all good: the Trinity. Mary’s incomparable greatness lies in what she has received and in her trusting readiness to allow herself to be overtaken by the Spirit. (mpf)
This is neither new nor old and long-forgotten: Pope Benedict XVI said ….[Christ] is the true, living Temple of God. He is the spring of living water. From him, the great river pours forth, which in Baptism renews the world and makes it fruitful; the great river of living water, his Gospel which makes the earth fertile. Jesus, however, prophesied something still greater. He said: “Whoever believes in me … out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). In Baptism, the Lord makes us not only persons of light, but also sources from which living water bursts forth. We all know people like that, who leave us somehow refreshed and renewed; people who are like a fountain of fresh spring water. We do not necessarily have to think of great saints like Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and so on, people through whom rivers of living water truly entered into human history. Thanks be to God, we find them constantly even in our daily lives: people who are like a spring. Certainly, we also know the opposite: people who spread around themselves an atmosphere like a stagnant pool of stale, or even poisoned water. Let us ask the Lord, who has given us the grace of Baptism, for the gift always to be sources of pure, fresh water, bubbling up from the fountain of his truth and his love! (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on Holy Saturday, 2009).
Others see in the river the life and love and grace of the Holy Spirit flowing from the Church and into the whole world. St Hilary of Poitiers sees the river as the work of the Holy Spirit through the virtues that act for the good of our neighbor, and St Thomas says the effect of that river is shown when we act quickly to help others and to share with them the gifts of grace we have received from God. Already, we are trees planted by the river, nourished by the Spirit and bearing fresh fruit constantly, nourishing and healing the world.
So, today is not only about a beautiful and important church in Rome, just like Jesus was not speaking of the physical temple. Today is a call for us to recognize our unity in and with Christ and our shared call to holiness, a call that our Blessed Mother is uniquely equipped to help us realize.
I encourage you to read the new document, from which I quoted extensively today, and to hear what the Church says, rather than what the internet says the Church says. As last week’s document says, “[Mary] is the icon in which Christ is venerated. She is the Theotokos, the Virgin Mother who presents her Son, Jesus Christ, to us.” (mpf)
[W]hen in the Rosary we plead with Mary, the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:35), she intercedes for us before the Father who filled her with grace and before the Son born of her womb, praying with us and for us.(JPII Rosarium Virginis Mariae).
We give thanks to those who are like springs of living water for us, and pray that through Our Lady’s intercession and the sacramental ministry of the Church, may we corporately and individually allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, making us pure, fresh springs of water, bubbling up from the fountain of his truth and his love to share the gifts of grace we have received from God.
