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Sunday, November 18, 2012

Dedication of Basilicas of Sts Peter & Paul & 25th Sun after Pentecost Nov 18, 2012



Feast of Dedication of Basilicas of Sts. Peter & Paul, Nov. 18,  2012
Epistle, Apocalypse 21: 2-5    Gospel, Luke 19: 1-10
25th Sunday after Pentecost


            The dedication of a Church is a solemn event and that is because a Church is the House of God. At the beginning of our Lord’s Church, during the Roman persecution, Catholics used to meet and celebrate Mass in peoples’ homes and other private places. When the persecutions ended the great Churches were built.  In Rome they were built by Constantine the Great and two of the greatest he built are the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul.

          Just how important a Church is we learn from Jesus, who threw the money changers out of the Temple because they disgraced His Father’s House. (Matthew 21: 12, 13) We learn this also from St. John: “And I heard a great voice from the throne saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men and he will dwell with them.” (Apocalypse 21: 3)

          As time went on, rules were developed for the building of a church and on the use of an altar. Today, however, we have returned oftentimes to meeting in peoples’ homes to celebrate Mass, and this is the case in my home. God lives in the tabernacle here on the altar and because God is in these Catholic tabernacles, even the most humble church is greater than the great Temple of King Solomon because the Messiah is here, body and blood, in our tabernacles.

          After the Captivity in Babylon, the Jews returned to their homeland and began to rebuild Solomon’s temple. This project began over the objections of some of the Jews, but God spoke to the prophet Aggeus (Ages). His book takes up only about three pages in the Bible. God said to Aggeus: “Go up to the mountain, bring timber and build the house: and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified.” (Aggeus 1: 8) The people noted that the new temple they were building was not a splendid as Solomon’s temple, but God again spoke to Israel through Aggeus: “The word that I covenanted with you when you came out of the land of Egypt: and my spirit shall be in the midst of you: fear not. . . . yet one little while, and I will move the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will move all nations: and the desired of the nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory.” (Aggeus 2: 6-8)

          The “desired of the nations” is the Messiah, and Jesus did enter that temple they were building and He filled it with glory by His presence there, just as He fills the chapel we are in with glory by His presence here.  

          Today is the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul. St. Peter was unquestionably the leader of the Apostles. He was also the leader of the Catholic Church, the first Pope. Peter was committed to his religion as we know from the vision he had (Acts 10: 9-16) where he was told to kill and eat animals that the Jews called unclean. Peter’s response was: “Far be it from me; for I never did eat any thing that was common and unclean.” The fact that Peter never ate anything unclean tells us that he was a man committed to his faith. Peter was also impetuous and quick-tempered. When Christ was taken in the Garden Peter immediately grabbed his sword and cut off the ear of the Chief Priest’s servant. Peter was the first Apostle to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, and also the one who denied three times that he knew him. But after our Lord’s Resurrection and after Peter was confirmed with the Holy Ghost on Pentecost Sunday, his strength of faith showed forth for the rest of his life.

          St. Paul was also a man of faith. He was a Jew and a Roman citizen. Gen. Pompey went through Tarsus at one point, where Paul was from, and some Jewish craftsmen made a large number of tents for his troops in a short time. Pompey was impressed by their work and he gave them the gift of Roman citizenship. Paul was a tentmaker and it’s possible that Paul’s family were among that group given Roman citizenship. Paul was sent for advanced schooling in the Jewish faith and he studied under Gamaliel, one of the most knowledgeable teachers of the time. The High Priest put Paul (then known as Saul) in charge of arresting Christians, and this was a position of trust.

          On this day of the dedication of their churches, we can contemplate their lives and their deaths. They gave their lives rather than to change their story, rather than diminish Christ in any way. We should also think about dedicating our lives to Christ as Peter and Paul did. It’s not likely we’ll be martyred violently like they were, but when you live your life for Christ you will suffer a slow martyrdom of sorts as you deny to yourself the pleasures of the world and the world in turn will deny you and consider you an outsider. I urge you to stand with Christ to the full, and I remind you what Jesus told his disciples in his last talk with them, “In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.” (John 16: 33)

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(Thanks to Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ and Fr. Gabriel Lavery, CMRI for today’s sermon)

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