Well, the Chapter is rolling along. I’d say it’s hard to believe that it’s Sunday already, but that would be a lie. The week is going deadly slow. But Sunday it is, and whether we got here slowly or not, it means that we really only have one day left after today. Today is the Jubilee celebration, so not much official is going on. Monday is the wrap up, which can get a bit tedious because we have to agree on the wording of the final document. But that said, the worst is over, I hope, and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The readings at Mass this week, and on Sunday, have had to do with the end times. This is the point in the year when the Church reflects on these things. It’s no accident; the leaves are almost completely off the trees here in the Northern hemisphere, there are no flowers blooming and the hours of day light are getting shorter. Nature is dying and so we as a community are called to reflect on our ultimate end.
The Gospel reading for Sunday, from Luke, has Jesus and the Apostles walking through the Temple, with the Apostles marveling at the building and it’s awesome beauty and power. Jesus warns them that this great structure wouldn’t last forever. In fact the day would come where there wouldn’t be one stone left on top of another. This came as a great shock to them, but the Lord was clear about it, and that they shouldn’t be disturbed by it all. Their faith needed to be rooted in something greater than a building.
The reading reminds me of the first time I was in Rome. It was 1998 and a group of young Salesians, some in the last years of initial formation, some just finished, were doing what we call the Heritage Tour; visiting the places in Turin and Rome that were significant in the life of Don Bosco. We had a guided tour set up for the afternoon, but Br. Tom Dion and I couldn’t wait that long. We left the clerical residence where we were staying, just off the Via della Conciliazione, walked up the street and into St. Peter’s Square. It was a glorious June day; bright sun and tourists everywhere. It was 1998, like I said and the Basilica, along with the rest of Rome, was undergoing a facelift in preparation for the great Jubilee of 2000. Before us was the great Basilica in all its glory that even the scaffolding covering the façade couldn’t diminish. As we walked closer to the Basilica there it was so unreal. We had both seen pictures and news stories on TV of St. Peter’s but to be standing in front of it was beyond our comprehension. Then to walk inside and see the holy water fonts held in place by marble cherubs larger than grown men, the long center isle marked off with lines indicating how the other great cathedrals of the world compare in terms of size. And the art and architecture; Michelangelo’s Pieta, Bernini’s canopy over the main altar, the statues of the saints high in their niches, and Don Bosco in particular down front on the upper right. It was incredible to behold. What power, what majesty represented by this massive and beautiful structure.
When we did come back in the afternoon for the tour we were reminded that this is actually the second church to bear the Apostle’s name to be on this spot. The original was build in the 4th century and by the 15th century had fallen into disrepair, so it was torn down and rebuilt. It was a reminder that nothing is forever. St. Peter’s is only a building, and as grand as it is, is still the work of human hands. It is a great reminder of the universality of the Church, with Bernini’s columns reaching out in the Square like the arms of a mother to receive her children. But it is only a sign. What is greater than any building is the faith we are called to. It is a faith not based on power or riches or grandeur, but on Jesus, crucified and risen.
I know a priest who was in Rome on 9/11, and the big rumor was that there was a plane earmarked for the Vatican, among other places, but since the response after the initial attacks came so quickly the planes never got off of the ground. Is this story true? Thankfully we didn’t have to find out. But what if something had happened that day? How would that effect our faith? When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD it was a great shock to the Jews of that time. Their religion endured, but in a different form. There were no longer sacrifices made to God on that spot, nor on any other since the Temple was the sole place these could take place. They still had the Word and the ministry of preaching that continues to our present times. But their religion changed forever.
If, God forbid, something tragic were to happen to St. Peters we would rightly be shocked. But our faith should not be shaken. The Sacrifice of the Mass celebrated in Rome is the same celebrated in New York, Boston, Beijing, Toronto and Cape Town. It is not based on a place but on a person; Jesus Christ. We need symbols like the Vatican, but we must remember it is just a symbol. What endures to the end are not buildings, but faith community gathered in the Name of the Lord.
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