Dear Parishioners,


 Let us first keep in our prayers all the
people and the priests of our Archdiocese who are
profoundly affected by the closing/merging of over
50 Parishes in the Archdiocese of New York as
was announced by Cardinal Dolan last Sunday. There is a lot
of hurt and disappointment. I can only imagine how I would feel
if our beautiful parish was one of them. And I thank God for
each and every one of you for making this parish vibrant and
strong. Please realize the difference your sacrifices and
response to the needs of our parish have made. The
Archdiocese will reevaluate the parishes every two years. We
must continue to move in the direction we are heading in order
to ensure our future for many, many more years to come.

 

 Today, November 9th, is the Feast of the Dedication of
the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Why are we celebrating the
dedication of a Church in Rome here in Morris Park? The
importance of the Lateran Basilica is captured in the words
above the entrance which can be seen by every person
entering this magnificent structure: ?The most holy Church of
the Lateran, the mother and head of all the churches of the city
and the world.? The Lateran is the mother of every church
edifice because it was the first Christian basilica in history, built
on land owned by the Laterani family by the Emperor
Constantine after he legalized Christianity in 313, and
dedicated to Christ the Savior by Pope Sylvester I on
November 9, 324. The Lateran is the head of all the churches
because Rome, the see of St. Peter, is the principal local
Church in the world, and the Lateran is the principal Church of
the Diocese of Rome. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and
therefore the Lateran Basilica, not St. Peter?s surprisingly, is the
Pope?s Cathedral, where his cathedra, the chair symbolic of his
teaching authority, rests. In this sense we can say that the
Lateran Basilica is the Cathedral of the world. This Feast is
meant to remind us of the unity of the Church throughout the
world, presided over by the successor of Saint Peter, Pope
Francis, the visible sign of the Church?s unity.

 

 As one author put it: ?The history of the Lateran is, in
many ways, the history of the Church as a whole. Over the
course of the centuries, the Lateran has been pillaged by
vandals, decimated by fire three times, toppled by an
earthquake, and neglected by Popes and people sometimes for
decades. After every fall on its Way of the Cross through time,
however, the Lateran rose again, continuing to proclaim to the
city and the world the Church?s faith, through the words of the
popes and five ecumenical councils held there, and through the
language of its art and architecture.?

 

The readings for today also remind us that the
essence of the Church is not a stone building, but all of us
baptized into Christ Jesus - living stones ? built upon Christ,
the Cornerstone. This Feast calls us, then, to recommit
ourselves as living stones, building our entire lives on Christ.




What makes us living stones is that we have the very life of
God within us, making you and me Temples or Basilicas where God
dwells within. As St. Paul reminds us today: ?Do you not know that
you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you?...The temple of God, which you are, is holy.? What a
reverence we would have for God, for others, and ourselves if we
truly grasped this incredible reality. As we celebrate today the
dedication of the Lateran Basilica to Christ the Savior on November
9, 324, let us remember that every time we receive Christ our Savior
in Holy Communion we rededicate our temples, our basilicas ? our
bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our souls ? to Him. Let us never
forget that we are the temple of God, and that this temple is meant
to be Holy. May God bless us all.

 Sincerely in Christ,

 Fr. Matthew J. Furey
_______ _______________________________________________