So when I was a little boy, I grew up in Mount Prospect.
And in our backyard we had a field,
And I have a brother who was two years younger than me,
And my brother and I loved this little pup tent that we had,
And oftentimes we’d sleep in the pup tent.
But that was a very special place for us.
It was kind of a Sacred place for us.
It’s a place where we could be together away,
Or I could be alone, but it was just a special place.
And I think we all have what we’d call
Sacred places in our lives.
Eventually my brother and I started a little campfire
Inside the tent, and that was the end of it,
But it was good for a while.
[Laughter]
Sacred space.
A dear Priest friend of mine, he’s up in the Madison Diocese,
And he’s been moved around,
And he’s a wonderful Pastor, and every time I go to visit him,
He, in his rectory, creates a Sacred space for himself.
It’s a “prayer corner,” he calls it,
But it’s carved out in the rectory just for him
To pray and to be one in prayer with the Lord.
Creating Sacred space.
I say all of that because this Feast that we celebrate today,
The Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran,
Is a Feast day of dedicating Sacred space.
It’s dedicating a Cathedral in Rome.
So most people think that the main Church of Rome
Is St. Peter’s Basilica, but it’s not — it’s St. John Lateran.
Would be St. Peter’s and that would be incorrect.
The main Church in Rome is the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
It’s actually the Pope’s home Church
And the Cathedral of Rome.
It was property that was given by the Lateran family
To Constantine, who was the Emperor in the fourth century.
Constantine, who was a convert to Christianity,
Built this beautiful Basilica Cathedral,
And then it was redone again in the 16th century.
It stands there as a Church,
As a Sacred space for all the people of the world.
You’d say that about St. Peter’s, as well.
But this is special because it’s dedicated to the people
Who are of believing to all the people of the world.
To all Christians, to all Catholics in the world
That have a deep desire
For a Sacred space in their lives.
This Chapel that we gather here at Mercy Home
And celebrate Eucharist is also Sacred space.
The Dedication of St. John Lateran,
This Feast day is a reminder, it’s a reminder
And an invitation for all of us, for all of us to create
And to participate in Sacred space in our lives.
That it’s there for us, that it belongs to us,
But at the heart of it is the Lord.
Where do we encounter the Lord?
We encounter the Lord in all sorts of areas of our lives.
Certainly the work here at Mercy Home,
Working among the poor, in our prayer and nature,
But to have a special dedicated place
That belongs to all the Christians and Catholics
Of the world is pretty important.
The Church wants to call attention to that
By having this special Feast day honoring
A building but really honoring Sacred space,
But really honoring the relationship
That we have with God.