The first Christians, the Jewish people who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, continued to worship God in synagogues on Saturdays, the Jewish holy day, and also met in their homes on Sunday for the celebration of the Eucharist since Jesus had risen on Sunday. Sunday became known as the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10; Didache chapter 14). Hostility emerged between the those who remained faithful to Jewish faith and those who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Gradually this came to a head and those who accepted Jesus as the Messiah were no longer allowed to worship in synagogues on Saturdays and but continued to celebrate the Eucharist in their homes on Sundays as they had been doing. In one of his letters, Paul had to reprimand the Corinthians over their lack of respect for the Eucharist as they celebrated in their homes (1 Cor 11:27-29).
For the first three centuries, all over the Roman Empire, Christians gathered in their homes to celebrate the Eucharist on Sundays even though they were also persecuted throughout the Roman empire. The catacombs in Rome were intended as underground places of burial but during times of persecution, the early Christians, for their safety, had to meet in the catacombs for the celebration of the Eucharist. During the first three centuries, of the 40-50 emperors, five emperors carried out very brutal persecutions of the early Christians. Including St. Peter, twenty-seven Popes were martyred for their faith during the first three centuries.
The Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity after receiving a vision (in 312) and in 313 AD granted religious liberty to Christians allowing them to worship without fear of persecution. That allowed the construction of churches from then on. After his conversion, Constantine gave what was known as the Lateran estate to the Pope. That became the Pope’s church in Rome, his cathedral, and also his residence was beside it. That church was dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist and Christ our Savior and so we know it today as the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The Pope’s residence deteriorated and so 1000 years later the Popes lived next to St. Peter’s Basilica as they do now, but the Pope’s cathedral is the Lateran Basilica. On this day in AD 324, the Lateran Basilica was dedicated, and the anniversary of its dedication is celebrated throughout the Church, even taking precedence when it falls on a Sunday.
Why does the whole Church celebrate today the dedication of the Pope’s cathedral in Rome? It is a sign of the unity of the Catholic Church since it was the first church built for Christian worship. Although we remember today the dedication of the first Christian church, we are aware, as we heard today in the second reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (chapter 3), that we all together form a spiritual building, the Body of Christ. The foundation is Jesus and we are all, so to speak, stones in the spiritual building, the Church.
The conversion of Constantine and dedication of the Lateran Basilica did not end all persecution of Christians for all time. Today there is persecution of Christians by extremist groups in Nigeria and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. When adults there convert to become Catholic and are baptized during the Easter Vigil, they know that this major step in their lives could lead to their martyrdom, and it does for some, but they are ready for it. How different to here where Jesus is used for one day for First Holy Communion and Confirmation and then ignored as if a disposable coffee cup. There is also persecution of Christians by some governments and there is what we might term persecution in parts of the western world by media or by other Catholics who want to change unchangeable Church teaching to allow them to do whatever they want. This persecution, if I may call it that, prevents preaching and teaching on the fullness of the truth of the Gospel and causes the Church, in effect, to go back down into the catacombs again now. Are we in the catacombs to escape persecution?
The early Popes were martyred, and two recent Popes in their youth grew up under difficult regimes, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Pope John Paul II as a priest in Poland suffered constant surveillance, intimidation, and attempts to discredit him by spreading false stories about him. We can imagine his experience in Poland lay behind his encouraging words during the first Mass he celebrated as Pope in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. I conclude with some of those words:
Go in spirit to the
bank of the Jordan, where John the Baptist taught: John, who is the
patron saint of this Basilica, the cathedral of Rome. Listen once
more to what he said, indicating the Christ:
“Behold, the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Behold, the Savior!
Believe in Him with renewed faith, with faith as fervent as that of
the first Roman Christians, who persevered here for three centuries
of ordeals and persecutions. (Pope John Paul II,
Homily, November 12, 1978)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2025
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for November 9: Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran
Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, mother of all churches
United around our Holy Father’s Cathedra, his Teaching Office 2007