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The Cross Remains: Homily for 24 August, 21st Sunday, Cycle A
By Fr. Dennis | August 23, 2008
This weekend, I am in Toledo, Ohio. I will celebrate the 11:00am Mass at the parish where my father and his brothers and sisters received their first Sacraments. It’s the parish where their parents grew up. It’s the parish that my grandmother’s grandfather helped build at the beginning of the 20th century. At Sacred Heart Catholic Church, on the East Side of Toledo, I will not only celebrate Holy Mass, but during the Mass I will also be baptizing my cousin’s son, who will be the 6th generation of my family to worship at Sacred Heart.
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On that day in 1900, in the largely German, largely immigrant neighborhood on the East Side of Toledo, when Sacred Heart Church burned to the ground, the only thing that remained standing was the cross of Christ, the giant, hand carved crucifix that stood above the altar. That cross, crafted by my grandmother’s grandfather Lohberger, was all that remained intact.
At least, that’s how the story goes in my family, members of which have worshipped in this parish for at least 5 generations now. Make that 6, after today, when we baptize my little cousin.
Though the loss to that first generation of parishioners was enormous, since many who had built the first church were still here, it was not the end of the parish. No, it most certainly was not. After the initial shock of the loss of that first church building, the people of the parish rebuilt an even grander structure. Since then, this parish has lived through liturgical reforms, renovations, another fire, and parish mergers, but the church still stands as a witness to the faith of the Catholic community of East Toledo, and to the power of the Cross of Christ.
It was Simon, son of Jonah, on that day long ago at Caesarea Philippi, who recognized Jesus for who he really was. Simon announced that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, and not just that, but that he was the Son of God. As a result of this bold pronouncement, Jesus gave him his new name, the name by which we usually call him: Rock. In Greek, Cephas. In Latin, Petros. In English, Peter.
And it was on that Rock, on the faith of Peter, that Jesus said he would build his Church, promising to give Peter the keys of the kingdom, the keys that would loose and bind, and promising that the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church.
For us Catholics, that day at Caesarea Philippi was an important day because that was the day, according to our understanding, that the unbroken line of the office of Peter was begun. Every pope since then has traced his office back to Peter, and today Pope Benedict XVI is the 265th person, including Peter, to hold that office, established by Jesus on the side of a hill near the town of Caesarea Philippi.
Now, I know that on account of my being here today, many members of my family are here today who live in other cities, and many of them are not Catholic. And if you’re not Catholic, you might be thinking about all the reasons why you might interpret this passage differently, and this is something we could have endless discussions about. Indeed, Christians have been discussing it at least since 1517, and probably longer.
But the point I want to emphasize here is that on that day when Jesus and his disciples went to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus announced his intention to found a Church, and the Church founded by Jesus Christ has existed continuously for almost 2000 years. No other institution in the history of anything can make such a claim.
During that time, the Church survived early divisions between Jewish and Gentile Christians, conflict between Jews who believed Jesus was Messiah and those who did not, and the persecutions under various Roman emperors like Nero and Diocletian. She survived the eventual collapse of the Roman Empire, and the hundred of heresies that threatened to shatter the Church from its very center. She has stood up against the threat Islamic expansionism beginning in the 7th and 8th centuries, and she has survived any number of post-Christian thinkers who have pronounced that Christianity was finally dead.
And even today, when many people’s faith is shaken by scandal and the failure of some of the shepherds to care for the sheep, the Church still stands, a witness to the faith of all the generations that have come before us, a witness to the saving Cross of Jesus Christ.
Just as Jesus promised that day at Caesarea Philippi, the Church has withstood everything the world could throw at it. Again and again, God has promised to preserve his people, saying, you will be my people, and I will be your God. Out of love for us, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming one like us in all things but sin. On the cross Jesus showed us the depths of his love, and his resurrection from the dead showed us that he was who he said he was, and that when he makes a promise, he has the power to keep it.
The Church, the one Body of Christ, the incarnation of the Word of God, alive and active in the world today through all of us who are joined together into his Body, has withstood its share of fires and traumas and human tragedies. It has lived through death and adapted to reconfigurations and renovations and renewals and all manner of challenges. And through it all, the Cross of Christ remains standing. We who are baptized into the one Body of Christ are baptized into his sufferings, we are baptized into his Holy Cross, yes. But we are also baptized into his joy, his triumph, his promise of everlasting life.
The Church Jesus Christ founded, giving the keys to Peter that day at Caesarea Philippi, is that same Church, the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, which today welcomes its newest member.
And once incorporated by baptism into the one Body of Christ, the newest Christian will not only join the 5 previous generations of his family that has worshipped here at Sacred Heart Church on the East Side of Toledo. He will be baptized and sanctified and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. He will be integrated into the Body of Christ, and incorporated into the life of every Christian alive today, and every Christian who has ever lived.
And he can be assured that Jesus’ promises apply to him as well. As a Christian community, we can welcome him with confidence into Christ’s Body, and hold up for him the one thing that overcomes every challenge and outlasts every change, triumphs over every enemy, destroying even death itself. And that is Christ and his Holy Cross, by which he redeems the world.
Topics: Family, History, Homilies |
August 25th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
reads almost as good as hearing you deliver it - great job bringing all these elements together.
thanks for making the trip … there were cousins there i don’t recall at all … and others whom i hadn’t seen in 20 years … or more.
great job by your cousins who pulled them all to toledo to celebrate your ordination.
may we someday celebrate another answering the call
August 25th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Father Dennis, God has blessed you and our entire family by selecting you to serve as one of his leaders of faith. Your history of Sacred Heart Church and our many generations from the area brought tears to my eyes and I knew my mom and dad, your grandparents, were looking down with great pride. It was my pleasure to work with your cousin, Julie, to establish a list of our first cousins to come celebrate with us. The Baptism of Ethan was also very special. He was dressed as a pure angel and looked might handsome to say the least. We have been “blessed” with a wonderful large family and God gave us extra blessings as we all LIKE each other.
In my daily prayers when I think of my mom I always say “Mom, thank you for faith and family” because without that we would not be the marvelous group of people we are.
LOL - Aunt Jeanne
August 29th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
That is so cool!
ADMG,
janet