November 9, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

I gave a brief lesson in ancient Church history in my homily a couple weeks ago, and I feel compelled to repeat some of that here, since today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. The way All Souls Day last Sunday trumped what would have been the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, this weekend, the Lateran Feast trumps what would have been the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran in the heart of Rome is the cathedral of the Roman Pontiff. Though the pope lives at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, the official seat of his jurisdiction is in this other church in the Eternal City. St. John Lateran is one of the four major basilicas (the others being St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls), and the claim could be made that it is the oldest official church building or parish in Christianity.

At the end of the 3rd century, the Roman Emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into quadrants. There were two emperors, each called Augustus, and two junior emperors, each called Caesar. Constantine was one of the Caesars and he lived in Britannia. Maxentius was the other Caesar and he lived in Rome. On October 28, 312 AD, Maxentius and Constantine met in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge a few miles north of Rome to determine who would become Augustus.

As the story goes, on the eve of the battle Constantine had a dream in which he saw in the sky the Chi-Rho and underneath the phrase, In hoc signo vinces (“In this sign you will conquer”). The Chi-Rho is a symbol for Christ, and so Constantine took this to mean that God would guide his victory. Constantine had his soldiers paint the Chi-Rho on their shields, and they won the battle. Constantine became emperor and, with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, he made Christianity a legal religion in the Roman Empire.

When he married his wife Fausta Lateranus, he received as her dowry her family’s palace, the Domus Laterana, in the city of Rome. The palace had earlier been confiscated by Emperor Nero and was an imperial complex, but this land was ceded to Constantine with both his victory and his marriage. Constantine then proceeded to donate the land and palace to the pope. The Catholic Church, which could now exist openly, built the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which was finished and consecrated in 324 AD. St. Peter’s Basilica was built shortly thereafter, consecrated in 326 AD, and finished around 350 AD. Both basilicas have been renovated over the centuries. St. Peter’s was rebuilt entirely and finished in 1626, and this is the church that still stands today.

Constantine’s father, Constantius Chlorus, was a pagan. His mother, Helen, was a Christian. It was because of his mother that Constantine legalized Christianity and bestowed favors upon the faith. Constantine eventually moved the capital of the empire to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople, and left the pope in charge of Rome, who lived in the Lateran Basilica.

Now, Constantine’s motives weren’t entirely pure. Christianity had become a powerful force throughout the Empire, even while it was still outlawed, and so Constantine, in recognizing the Church, was solidifying his own popularity and grasp over the precarious Empire. And what he did for the Church wasn’t necessarily the best thing for the Church. The Church now had wealth, land, and political favor and influence. These are all positives in the metrics of the world, but not in the metrics of the Kingdom. Remember, the Church prospered when it had no wealth, no land, and was persecuted.

So, Constantine didn’t really help the Church by institutionalizing it. But this doesn’t mean that God abandoned the Church. No. God remained faithful to the Church as he’s remained faithful to it for 2,000 years. He balanced out the Church’s worldliness through saints. Constantine might have corrupted the Church, but his mother Helen re-spiritualized it. Saint Helen was inspired by God to leave Rome and search for the true Cross upon which Christ died in Jerusalem. The Cross had been lost over the centuries. She found the Cross miraculously, buried on Calvary, and with that discovery brought back the focus of Christians not on wealth and grandeur, but on poverty and simplicity. God blessed his Church with St. Helen.

Following Constantine, the Emperor Theodosius in the year 380 made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica. Catholicism became now even more institutionalized and superficial. So, what did God do? He inspired a young aristocratic Roman named Benedict to leave Rome, not become a prince-priest, and create the Benedictine Order — a group of men and women dedicated to poverty, chastity, obedience, and living a life of prayer. The Church was balanced out and preserved.

And so we see this pattern throughout the centuries. God sanctifies the institutional Church and hierarchy through the saints — ordinary men and women who are called to love God in a special way and teach the rest of the Church how to love.

If God does this with the Church at large, then he does it with you too. He balances you out and sanctifies you when you are faced with worldliness and other struggles.

The Feast of the Lateran Basilica is more than just a celebration of a building. It’s a celebration of the Church loved by God and given to the world as a beautiful gift. May there be a St. Helen or a St. Benedict in our day.

+

All Souls Books of Remembrance are located in the church at the Mary altar and in the back of the church in the vestibule for you to write the names of any deceased. These books will be available throughout the month of November and we will be praying for the repose of their souls.

The Knights of Columbus Men’s Retreat will be held on Saturday, November 15th at Our Lady of Hope in Rosemont.

Please note there will be no Confessions at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, November 15th.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James Wallace