What do we mean by Church?

​Today we celebrate a Feast called The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. We wonder why it is important.  It is important because upon reflection we begin to understand that the Church has a long history as an institution.  The Lateran Basilica is the seat of the pope.  The pope is the bishop of Rome and his official church is this Basilica not St. Peter’s.
 
It is more important to understand the Church as the People of God.  The relationship with one another reveals to us, that we are the followers of Jesus Christ.  It is in Jesus that we come to know our identity.  As we listen to the Gospel from John, we hear of the anger Jesus felt when he saw the temple filled with unjust money changers. Jesus believed in the need for the temple to be used appropriately, 
 
Our knowledge of the history of the Church with its goodness as well as it faults helps us to understand that as followers of Jesus Christ we become the Church with the Lord as our cornerstone built upon the faith of people in the past.  Following Jesus enables us to discern how the institutional Church can bring us closer to Jesus.