Known also as St. John Lateran, its full title is "The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran." Across its façade is carved the proud title "Omnium Urbis et Orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput" – "The Mother and Head of all Churches of the City and of the World." It is the cathedral of Rome, the Pope's own cathedral, and therefore holds a unique place in the life of the universal Church. It is senior in dignity even to St. Peter's Basilica.
One of the reasons we celebrate this feast is because the Church wants us to remember the importance of consecrated places in which the worship of God takes place. A church is not simply a building where people gather for prayer. Through its consecration, it is set apart for the sacred purpose of offering worship to God, particularly in celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and administering the sacraments.
This feast also reminds us of the incarnational principle upon which our faith is based, that God extends His spiritual blessings to us through the use of physical things. He took human flesh upon Himself. He instituted seven sacraments which use outward signs to communicate inward grace. He established a hierarchical Church, with a visible and physical presence in the world, to be a sign of His own presence among us.
There is also a reminder here of our own vocation. Just as a church building is consecrated and set apart for God's service, so each of us, through Baptism, has been consecrated to belong to Christ. We are called to become living temples of the Holy Spirit, offering our lives as a continual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
O Most blessed Saviour, who didst vouchsafe thy gracious presence at the Feast of Dedication: be present with us at this time by thy Holy Spirit, and so possess our souls by thy grace; that we may be living temples, holy and acceptable unto thee; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.