Living Stones

Father Andrzej Wyrostek
The Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
November 9, 2025

My dear friends, the Church celebrates today the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. Now for most of us this doesn’t make much sense because the Lateran Basilica is not something that is truly important on the visit to Rome. When we think about the center of our Catholic Church, we think of the pope and where the pope lives. Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint Peter’s Square and all the magnificent sites and structures that are connected to Saint Peter’s Square. But the truth is there is more than I can see. 

You see, the basilica was not built until about 1500 years after Jesus Christ. So, that’s a long time. What happened before that is that the Church has been in place already. Jesus where now he was calling his Apostles and Disciples, he allows them to begin, or he gives them a footprint for the structure of the Church that we know today. Before that we know that in the 300s, the Church became legalized and Christianity was known, beginning to be known, not only in Rome but also throughout the world.

So, what has happened is that every bishop needs to have a place that he can call his home. So, that’s the Bishop of Rome which the pope is. So, before the Saint Peter’s Basilica was built it was the home that was converted into the residence of the early popes for the first 1500 years. It was the home that belonged to the Lateran family in Rome. It was not just an ordinary home that we might think about having — two flats (apartments) and a couple of windows and doors, and room for a couple of cars. That was not that. 

If you go to the Lateran Basilica, you will find a magnificent building which was the palace at that time for the Lateran family. It is for the next 15 centuries that place will be the home of the Bishop of Rome and at the same time pope throughout the world — the leader of the Catholic Church in this world. But as magnificent as the buildings are, be it the Lateran Basilica or being the Saint Peter’s Square and Saint Peter’s Basilica, or many other churches that we can find and visit throughout the centuries, we need to remember it is not the not the power of the artists who have designed those buildings or  the craftsmanship of the builders who are who put those buildings together, but what is at the heart of the foundation of this feast today, the average church, are the living stones that we are. 

We are living stones that God has breathed life into through the sacraments, through his Gospel, through his presence, through his miracles, through his encouragement. We are today the living stones that allow others to see the power of God at work. Our life is not just a gift of itself. Our life is a gift from God that allows us to recognize God, to long for him as we recognize and are enjoying the presence of God in his grace and work in our own life and we desire to share it. Who of us would not want to share something that is a beautiful, life-giving encouragement. Something that lifts the people to a higher standard, allows us to look beyond the challenges of everyday life. Those are the moments which are at the foundation of the Gospel today. Christ himself, who continues to live in us, who continues to encourage us, who continues to call us on a regular basis to build another building. A building that is more than just mortar and stones — the building that is the source of life, divine life and work in us.