(The Dedication of St. John Lateran: This homily was given on November 9, 1997 at St. Pius X Church in Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Revelation 19: 7; 21: 1-4; John 4: 19-24.)

"The Woman most loved; the Woman most hated."

Who am I?

I’m the most loved woman on earth.

I’m the most hated woman on earth.

I’m loved for the very same reason that I’m hated.

Who am I?

The answer is: "I am the Catholic Church." Several times in the New Testament, the Church is personified as "the Bride of Christ." She’s personified as a woman being prepared for the eternal marriage feast of heaven. And precisely because of the fact that she is the Lord’s Bride, she’s the most loved woman on earth: loved by Christ, and loved by many of her children. These children love her so deeply because they know that she brings them the salvation and the full truth of Jesus our Savior. They love her because they know that without her, they would have no hope.

But amazingly, this is the very reason why other people hate her so passionately. This makes her the most loved woman on earth, and the most hated woman on earth at the same time!

I raise this issue this morning because today we celebrate a feast in honor of the dedication of a building. (An unusual feast day, to say the least!) On most liturgical feast days we focus our attention either on saints or on important events in the Bible. Why today do we focus on a building in Italy--the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome? Well, let me answer that question by asking another question: Where is the Pope’s cathedral? The pope is the bishop of Rome, and every bishop must have a cathedral. Which church in Rome serves as the cathedral of the Holy Father? Most people would probably answer that question by saying, "St. Peter’s"--which would be an understandable response given the fact that the pope’s lives nearby. But that answer is wrong. The Pope’s cathedral is not St. Peter’s--it’s the Basilica of St. John Lateran: a church that was built way back in the 4th century by Constantine, the Roman emperor who stopped the persecutions and legalized Christianity. So this feast day reminds us of something very important: it reminds us of our unity with the Holy Father. It reminds us of the fact that we are Catholic Christians--not simply Christians--but Catholic Christians, who are children of the Bride of Jesus Christ.

I said a few minutes ago that the Catholic Church is the most hated woman on earth. This, unfortunately, has made many of her children very uncomfortable with the name "Catholic." In fact, I’ve actually had discussions with some Catholics who categorically refuse to identify themselves with that title. If you ask them what religion they are, they’ll tell you, "I’m Christian." They’ll never say, "I’m Catholic." Now don’t misunderstand me here: it’s not wrong to say, "I’m a Christian." It’s fine. But we shouldn’t stop there! We should be willing to go further! Because saying "I’m a Christian" is not an adequate description of who we are! It’s accurate, but it’s not adequate. Saying "I’m a Christian" and stopping there is like saying "Michael Jordan is a basketball player" and leaving it at that. Does that statement ("Michael Jordan is a basketball player") give us a complete picture of who this man is professionally? No way! It’s an accurate statement, yes--but it’s not adequate. A more complete description would be, "Michael Jordan the best basketball player on the best basketball team in the entire world." That’s who Michael Jordan really is professionally. He’s not an ordinary basketball player. He’s the best of the best. (I hate to admit that since I’m a Celtics’ fan, but it’s true nonetheless!)

Catholics need to stop being ashamed of who they really are! Catholics, in other words, need to stop being ashamed of their Catholicity! People today who hate the Catholic Church normally try to intimidate us by doing two things: first of all, they focus on the horrible sins of some bad Catholics (sins, by the way, which the Church categorically CONDEMNS!); and secondly, they like to talk about the many Catholics who disagree with the Church on certain contemporary moral issues. My brothers and sisters, this type intimidation is clearly the work of Satan. Satan wants to intimidate us like a school yard bully--so that we will shamefacedly hide our faith under a bushel basket! We must not give in to this type of diabolical intimidation! We must resist it with all our strength! Why? Because the salvation of souls depends on our being bold in our faith! Jesus tells the Samaritan woman in today’s gospel text from John 4 that God desires people who will worship him "in Spirit and in truth." God wants the whole world to be lovingly united in the truth of his Son, Jesus Christ. But you see, there is only one Church on the face of the earth that teaches the truth of Jesus Christ in it’s fullness. Other churches teach certain aspects of the truth, (and some of them teach those aspects very well!), but only one teaches the fullness of the truth: the Holy, Roman Catholic Church, our spiritual Mother. So for the sake of the world’s conversion and salvation, we need to live our faith and we need to be open about our faith as Catholics.

Last weekend, many of us were privileged to see what happens to young people when adults are willing to do this. As most of you know, our parish youth group sponsored a retreat last week for teenagers and young adults in Baltic, Ct. The retreat was run by members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal--the religious order that Fr. Benedict Groeschel belongs to. Well, if you’ve ever met any of these Franciscan priests and brothers you know one thing: they are not shy about proclaiming their Catholic faith! When it comes to Jesus, when it comes to the Church, when it comes to morality--these guys don’t fool around! They speak with clarity. They speak with conviction. And the young people love it! Amazingly, they don’t get turned off--quite oppositely, they get turned on: to God, to Christ, and to the Church. That certainly happened (big time!) last weekend. I also know that some of the young people there were healed of some very serious problems in their personal lives. And it’s interesting--much of the healing took place during a very "traditional" Catholic ceremony on Saturday night. (In some ways it was like an old time procession with the Blessed Sacrament. Many of us remember those.) Dressed in a cope and humeral veil, one of the priests simply carried the monstrance containing the Holy Eucharist all around the room, escorted by incense and candles. The only unique aspect of it all was that he stopped in front of each person for about a minute. Then he blessed the person with the Eucharist and moved on. It was an extremely powerful moment for many of these young people.

Later on the thought occurred to me: When I was a teenager back in the 1970’s, we never experienced anything like this on a youth retreat. Most of the time we made collages and drew pictures! You see, many retreat leaders back then were afraid to talk about "Catholic" things like the Eucharist and Confession. So they tried to come up with things that were more "relevant." And what do we have to show for it in 1997? Lots of middle-aged, ex-Catholic atheists who can draw nice pictures. These good friars, on the other hand, use no gimmicks. They just present the gospel and the sacraments to teenagers in a way they can understand, and many of them have life-changing experiences!

I’ll close my homily today by saying this: Mother knows best! We may think we can, but the fact is we can’t possibly improve on what holy Mother Church teaches, because she teaches the full truth of Jesus! She teaches the truth that sets people free from sin and fear and doubt and eternal death. The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal know this, which is why they share their faith so openly. Being Catholic children of holy Mother Church is not something they’re ashamed of, it’s something they praise and thank God for. May all of us have the very same attitude.