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As a convert, one of the things that attracted me to the Catholic Faith was its strong grounding in the physical world. Catholic teaching on the Real Presence, the Sacraments, and sacramental objects offered me a faith grounded in the real world, where Jesus wasn’t just a memory we commemorated through symbolism or a spiritual presence living invisibly in our hearts. No, for Catholics, he is flesh and blood, physically present all over the world in the Eucharist, and his grace is a tangible thing. Baptism, Confession, Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, the Anointing of the Sick—these Sacraments are not...

Archdiocese of WashingtonA Homily for the Feast of St John Lateran By: Msgr. Charles PopeToday is the Feast of St. John Lateran in Rome. This is the Pope’s true Cathedral (not St. Peters). And thus, in celebrating this Feast, we celebrate the unity of the Church. The Pope’s work is to unite and strengthen the members of the Church whom the devil would like to sift (divide) like wheat (see Lk 22:31ff). On this feast we do well to examine a few teachings about the Church that the readings supply.I. The Shock of the Church - One of the more...

? THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR (COMMONLY CALLED ST JOHN LATERAN) Feast: November 9 From the beginning of the world altars were erected for offering sacrifices to God, and the places which were deputed for this supreme act of religion were always looked upon as sacred. Abel, Noe, Abraham, and the other patriarchs raised altars in retired and sanctified places, where they some times assembled their families or tribes to pay to God the most solemn religious worship. Abraham, to make the place more awful and retired, planted a grove round his altar at Beersabe,[1] and...

Pope Outlines His Vision of the Papacy By DANIELA PETROFFThe Associated PressSunday, May 8, 2005; 2:38 AM ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI indicated Saturday he will stick to Pope John Paul II's unwavering stands against abortion and euthanasia, saying pontiffs must resist attempts to "water down" Roman Catholic teaching.Benedict outlined his vision of his papacy in a homily during a ceremony in which he took his place on a marble-and-mosaic throne in the ancient Roman basilica of St. John in Lateran. The ceremony is the last to formally mark Benedict's assumption of the papacy.....snip...."Freedom to kill is not a true...

Background: St. John Lateran, the Pope's cathedral Rome, May. 06 (CWNews.com) - On Saturday, May 7, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) will formally take possession of the basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Rome diocese. Although it has not been the primary home of Roman Pontiffs since the 14th century-- St. Peter's Basilica is the site of most papal liturgical celebrations-- St. John Later remains the Pope's cathedral, and the Roman church par excellence. The name "Lateran" refers to the great patrician family of ancient Rome on his grounds the basilica now stands. For several centuries,...