Pastor's Message

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica - November 8-9, 2025

 

I was born and raised in a part of the world in which there was a great familiarity with and appreciation of holy places. The ruins of the 16th Century Dominican Priory, St. Bridget’s Well, Croagh Patrick (Patrick’s Mountain) are examples of places associated with local devotions and popular piety. I was also blessed to have grown up where natural beauty and stunning geographical features combined to provide some incredible views and sights. It was common to hear people exclaim things like “This is God’s own country!” or “How can people not believe in God!”

 

Likely we all have places or locations which we can name as being associated with the divine or with our faith. One of the easiest to call to mind is our own parish church. There’s a reason why we gather in church to worship and pray on Sunday, for example. We also gather at the parish church to celebrate significant sacramental moments such as Baptism, Eucharist, Matrimony, etc. The parish church is a holy place inasmuch as it is where God’s people gather for such life moments.

 

Here in Long Beach, St. Anthony’s holds a particular place in the history of the Catholic Church in the city in that it is the “Mother Parish” for all the parishes in Long Beach. Within the larger Archdiocese of Los Angeles, we might also consider the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels as a particular place for the gathering of the faithful and for the celebration of particular sacraments as well as other events in the life of the local church, such as the annual Chrism Mass during which the Archbishop consecrates Sacred Chrism for Baptism and Confirmation celebrations in our parishes. This is also the place where we ordinarily celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Orders, when bishops, priests and deacons are ordained for the local church. Throughout California we also recognize the Missions which dot the state and, truth told, there are so many places of beauty and incredible, awe-inspiring vistas, where we can find ourselves encountering the Divine.

 

From the quiet of our morning gardens to the sublime peace of the many retreat houses available to people all over the Southland, there is no shortage of “holy places.” If we were to try to be mindful of “holy places” around the world, we might think about cities like Jerusalem and Rome, or shrines like Lourdes, Fatima and Mexico’s Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, or pilgrim ways such as the Camino de Santiago Compostella. Some non-Christian places such as Mecca or Angkor Wat might also come to mind. For Catholics, we might think of the Vatican and St. Peter’s.

 

This Sunday we celebrate a palace considered “holy” by the Catholic Church throughout the world. We mark the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Oddly, while St. Peter's might be much better known, it is the Basilica of St. John Lateran that is the actual “Cathedral” of the "Bishop of Rome” AKA the Pope. It holds particular significance for the Catholic Church because it is the oldest public church in Rome, dating back to the early Fourth Century. It is named for St. John (both the Baptist and the Evangelist) and the wealthy Laterani family who were associated with it. The full and formal title of the church is quite a mouthful, but it might help us to understand why we bother to celebrate the dedication of a Church many of us might never have even heard of before: “Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World.” As the Pope’s “parish church” and Cathedral, it is known as the mother and head of all the catholic churches of the world. As the Pope is the manifest human sign of the Communion of the faithful, the Basilica is a concrete (pun intended) reminder of the connection and communion that exists among all the Catholic faithful throughout the world.

Side note: Speaking of “holy places”, this coming week I will be traveling for my annual spiritual retreat to Valyermo and the hospitality of the Benedictine Monks at St. Andrew’s Abbey. I will leave Monday and return Friday and, while I am away, recently retired Msgr. David Sork will join our community for daily Mass at 8 A.M. We are blessed to have him available to us for these few days. It is getting more and more difficult to arrange for visiting priests to step in when I must be away. So please pray for me while I am on retreat, pray for Msgr. Sork and the good health of other retired priests locally, and pray for an increase in priestly vocations to serve in our local church.

 

Blessings,

Fr. David