Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dominica VII per Annum A
19 February 2023

 Before we go through the process for the Annual Catholic Appeal, and with the historic moment of the consecration of the Shrine of Bl. Stanley Rother fresh on our minds, I want to say a few words about the pattern of the consecration of a Church (a temple being another word) compared to the pattern of how we enter and progress in life as Christians (that is temples of God; dwellings of the Holy Spirit).  I want to reflect on this because of the providential words in the second reading: “Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy” (1 Cor. 3:16-17).

 The evocative ceremony of dedication of a new church speaks to us powerfully.  Before the dedication starts we already have a beautiful building, but it is only a building.  The most stark sign of this is that the sanctuary with the altar is not decorated as normal, much like Good Friday when the altar is stripped to recall the Lord’s death.  The altar stands in the center of an undedicated church as an empty table.  But once consecrated, the altar and sanctuary are vested as the place of encounter with God, where the Lord Jesus comes in his resurrected Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.

 What did we witness with the consecration of the Shrine on Friday (whether live in person or watching on TV or livestream)?   I want to highlight some of the major moments in the ceremony of the consecration of a new church and connect them to how we become temples of God as we heard in the second reading.  (1) The minister with authority (in this case a bishop) claims the property for Christ and his Kingdom and it is handed over to him by those who built it.  Until our baptism we are under the dominion of Satan for he is permitted power in this world.  We are subjects of the kingdom of darkness.  But then a minister with authority claims us for Christ and his Kingdom when we are handed over to him by those – usually parents – who helped make us.  (2) At the consecration, the bishop blesses water and sprinkles the entire building with it to drive out Satan and to bless the structure.  At our baptism water is blessed and we are washed clean to drive out Satan and to wash us clean of sin.  (3) Another major moment of a consecration is that the altar and the walls of the new church are anointed with perfumed sacred chrism to set them aside for the honor and glory of God.  Likewise, we become Christians – the literal meaning is “anointed ones” – by also sharing in an anointing with sacred chrism at baptism and confirmation, so that we should understand ourselves and conduct ourselves as set aside for God.  (4) Next, there is the incensation of the altar and the entire church.  So often in our living of the faith and gathering for Holy Mass, at least at the principal Masses with more pageantry, we are incensed along with the altar and the gifts for offering.  Incense is always a sign of the presence of divinity (that’s what is understood by the Three Kings bringing incense to the Baby Jesus).  Being made temples of God, His presence dwells in us.  And the incense reminds us that our prayers, our speech, our aspirations, our hearts rise up to God just as the smoke rises in the air before us.  (5) Next, the altar is vested and the candles we are so accustomed to seeing are finally lit and things look as we expect them to be in a church.  When we are claimed for Christ and become temples of God and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit at baptism, we are given a lit candle for we have received the light of faith and we are to make our world less dark by letting faith shine in our actions.  We should vest – we should dress up – for our encounter with God in this temple for we are called to put on the vesture of God’s kingdom.  (6) Finally, all of this is done to set the new church aside as the place where God comes in His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist on the altar.  Once we are claimed for God we are called to be united to Him.  We are to guard this temple, to let nothing destroy it, especially to recognize sin as the destructive force it is, so that we live in a way that we are ready and able to receive the Lord in Holy Communion for nourishment in this life and ready and able to greet him when he comes again in glory.

 Brothers and sisters: You are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you!  The ritual of the consecration of a new church is never just about the building alone; rather, it is a reminder of the living building that we are called to be.  A new church receives consecration passively and remains an inanimate object.  That cannot be our consecration.  We receive consecration, but we must do so actively and to live daily in a way that shows us to be living stones who make other disciples to add to the cornerstone of Christ.  In this way, we are made perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (cf. Mt. 5:48).