(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
We celebrate today the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of Rome, the mother church of the Western Church. Whenever we celebrate the dedication of a physical building called a church, we really celebrate our incorporation through baptism into Jesus Christ.
When St Paul told his people that they were God’s building or the temple of God or that the Spirit of God s dwelt in them, he used the plural form of you. In other words, when he wrote, “You are” he did not mean each one individually, but the totality of his people. St Paul, then, taught that the temple of God among us was made up of all the believers collectively, not each one individually.
Therefore, we are Church together as a community not as an individuality. Each of us can be a living stone or brick in the building, but not the whole building. We are safe in the Church because we are together in the Lord. We are safe as a group because we make up the Church, the Body of Christ, who is our head and unifying power. We are not safe alone, separated from the group.
If we try to be great by ourselves, we stand on very weak ground. If we want to be great apart from others, we are really small and insecure. If we try to be great in ourselves, we are apt to become bullies because of our insecurities. We can only be great in union with others in Christ.
This is the way with us as individuals and as nations of the world. All who want to be great apart from the rest are very small. This is because, we are all interconnected. For example, it is normal for people to marry, but marriage normally takes places between two families: siblings do not marry themselves. We live in relationship with others. This so in human relations and it is doubly more so in terms of the Church.
So, today we celebrate the dedication of a place for worship. The celebration can call each of together into the worship of God, whose unity is community. It challenges us to welcome others into our lives, to heal wounds of division with other Christians, with people of the other political party, and with the peoples of other nations.