2006 Homily for Anniversary of Dedication of Church
Readings: Genesis 28.11-18; Eph. 2.19-22; Matt. 25.31-40
Where does God dwell?
In every place, even the most unlikely.
With Jacob we say, "surely the Lord is in this place,
and I did not know it."
In the biblical story,
Jacob is on the run from his brother Esau.
he lies down in a barren, rocky place under the open sky.
As the night sky begins to take shape,
he has a dream that changes him
from a person who is unaware of God
to someone who suddenly knows that God is with him.
"Surely the Lord is in this place,
and I did not know it."
God's most intimate name Lord is repeated several times.
God introduces the Divine Self: "I am the Lord."
With this name, God chooses to stand with Jacob.
Another striking element of the passage
is that the word 'place' is repeated five times in seven verses.
"How awesome is this place!"
Later Moses chooses the name Bethel for this place
because it means "house of God."
From the beginning of time,
when humans were first recognizably human,
we have discovered or created holy places,
places where the community comes together for worship,
for supplication, for healing and comfort.
We do this with great care
because the place itself
becomes part of the religious imagination of a community.
When the Word becomes flesh,
again and again,
people find themselves saying,
"truly God is in him and I did not know it."
This phenomenon is fully realized in the centurion
who says at the foot of the cross,
"Truly this man was the Son of God."
After the resurrection,
Christians gathered to pray
and discovered when they did so,
that Christ was present in the community.
We are members of the Body of Christ
and we derive direction, support, witness,
and fresh vision from the Body coming together for worship.
We are living stones,
held together by Christ as capstone,
being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
This is Eucharistic thinking;
that we the Body of Christ
break open the word,
and share bread and cup
receiving the Body and Blood of Christ
to be more truly what we are called.
Truly Christ is present in the gathering of the Body,
in the breaking of holy bread,
in the sharing of holy cup,
and I did not know it.
How many times we meet Christ
in the poor, in the hungry and the homeless,
the sick, whether mentally or physically,
in the prisoner, in the user,
in the person who is in our face,
in the tired and frustrated,
in those who weep and mourn.
Our first impulse may be to turn away,
or to run away, to pass by on the other side.
If we resist these initial tendencies,
we are surprised, astonished, humbled.
Truly Christ is present in him or her
and I did not know it.
This feast begs for the integration of our seeing, our knowing,
our believing, our acting.
To know God in holy places, to recognize holy places;
To know Christ in the Body
and in the breaking of break and sharing of cup;
To know Christ in the least ones,
knowing that we are all least ones at times.
To be surprised by the joy of knowing Christ.
Abbot John Klassen, OSB
October 24, 2006
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