Homily

As many of you know, Facebook has that feature where they will pop up a photo of something you posted in the past, asking “Remember this?” Well, this week Facebook popped up a picture of me with Mel Damewood standing in front of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Cologne, Germany. What an amazing church! Construction began 1247 and the church was not consecrated for worship until 200 years later. (Actually, the church’s two tall spires were not finished until 1880.) The cathedral is 475 feet long and it’s the second tallest church in Europe with its two spires rising 515 feet from the ground. I got dizzy just looking up at them. When you go inside and tilt your head to look up at the ceiling you know it’s so high that it must be supporting the welcome mat to heaven.

Once we were inside, we spent some time praying, and of course I prayed for all of you as I did in every church we visited at that time in Germany and Switzerland. This cathedral of St. Peter is the most popular tourist attraction in Germany and about 20,000 people visit it every day. You can see many tour groups scattered throughout the cathedral with their guides talking to them about the history and architecture of the place. Many other people come in on their own, walking about and taking photo after photo of whatever catches their interest. But I know, I know it won’t surprise you if I tell you that it seemed as though almost none of them spent any time in prayer there in the church. We went into the side chapel where the Holy Eucharist is kept. The sign on the door there says, “No Visiting – For Quiet Prayer Only” and apparently that served as almost a “Do Not Enter” sign because when we went in, only a few people were there. For the many hundreds of people in the cathedral at that time, this chapel of prayer was a “No Go Zone.”

It made me think once again of what a strange situation it was. This magnificent building which was constructed to be a temple of prayer and worship, was now considered by most of the people who entered it to be only a place of historical, architectural, and artistic interest. A museum. A place to wander about and stare at things, a place to be photographed and appreciated, but not a place to be used according to the purpose for which it was built. Just another tourist site, like the Colosseum or the Taj Mahal. Nobody prays there either.

I thought of all the people nearly 800 years ago who planned this cathedral, who paid for its construction and the staggering amount of money it must have taken to complete it. Not counting the spires, it took over 200 years to finish this building. Two-hundred years! The stonemasons, carvers, artists, woodworkers and all the craftsmen and laborers who put so much time and talent into this building, even adding great detail into pieces of architecture and art that could not even be seen from ground level. And, while I don’t want to try and characterize a whole group of people, I don’t think I am wrong in saying that many of those involved in creating this magnificent building did so in the belief that they were building something beautiful for God and not simply working on a job. It was a part of their faith.

As I walked through that holy place, not just as a tourist seeing the sights, but as a Catholic, inside a Catholic church, I thought of the millions of prayers that must have been prayed in that place over the centuries and how the stones themselves must be saturated with the petitions and praise of the faithful who came there through the ages. I thought of the countless Liturgies that had been celebrated within its walls, along with the other services that also sanctified this huge cathedral. I thought of the thousands upon thousands of people who were baptized, confessed, married, ordained, and buried at that place, all in the faith that comes to us from Christ our Lord. This was not a foreign building to me, but the temple of God where I also belonged. This was a house of worship. Even if the vast majority of people who pass through its doors today do not come there to worship, its mission is still to serve as a place where the faithful come and give praise, thanks, and petitions to the Lord our God.

My friends, this building we are in today stands for the same reason and purpose. It’s only 30 years old and it’s 485 feet shorter than the cathedral of Cologne. There are not hundreds of amazing pieces of art and architecture, and we are not on tourist maps as places “not to be missed.” But the reason this building is here is the same as that building in Germany. We are here to worship God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the highest, most beautiful and fulfilling thing we can do as human beings. If we are Christians then we ought to constantly try to remember that the worship of God should be at the very center of our lives, and if it is not, we must work to make it so. There is an unfortunate phrase we often use for our Sunday gatherings. We often say that we are “going to church.” It’s true that this church is where you are right now but to say that we are “going to church” can sound as if the destination is the important matter rather than what we are going to do there. Thousands of people go the cathedral church in Cologne every day. But very few worship God there. I know it’s just a phrase, but I would love it if instead of saying “I’m going to church” people would say, “I am going to worship.”

So here we are. We struggle. We get distracted. We can be lazy. We can become indifferent. We can be tempted to even reject the idea of worship, as so many do today, because it’s not emotionally satisfying or materially rewarding. But, dear friends, this worship here today is the most important thing we will do all this week. This worship is what strengthens our humanity and fuels the divine life Christ has given to us. This worship today should serve to guide our thoughts and our actions until the next time we come together to celebrate Liturgy. But only faith will allow us to fully participate in its richness, and only choosing to worship, instead of simply attending, will give us access to its graces. I do not think that people fall away from faith so much because of intellectual disagreements with the truth of Christ. I think most people fall away because, for whatever reasons, they don’t want to, and they will not worship. And those who will not worship the Lord cannot become the people that God intended them to become the day they were born.

And at the same time there is no better way to grow in the life of Christ than to come, and let us worship and bow down before Christ, Who will save those who sing to Him in praise and petition. We are in the house of the Lord. Especially at this Liturgy today, let us focus ourselves as much as we can, and ask Him for what we need, thank Him for all He has given us, worship Him as the source and goal of our lives in this world and in the world that is to come. Amen.