Built up into Christ

Dedication of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Meath
From a Sermon by St Augustine, Bishop & Doctor of the Church

We are gathered together to celebrate the dedication of a house of prayer. This is our house of prayer, but we too are a house of God. If we are a house of God, its construction goes on in time so that it may be dedicated at the end of time. The house, in its construction, involves hard work, while its dedication is an occasion for rejoicing.  What was done when this church was being built is similar to what is done when believers are built up into Christ. When they first come to believe they are like timber and stone taken from woods and mountains. In their instruction, baptism and formation they are, so to speak, shaped, leveled and smoothed by the hands of carpenters and craftsmen.

But Christians do not make a house of God until they are one in charity. The timber and stone must fit together in an orderly plan, must be joined in perfect harmony, must give each other the support as it were of love, or no one would enter the building. When you see the stones and beams of a building holding together securely, you enter the building with an easy mind; you are not afraid of its falling down in ruins.  Christ the Lord wants to come in to us and dwell in us. Like a good builder he says: “A new commandment I give you: love one another.” He says: “I give you a commandment.” He means: “Before, you were not engaged in building a house for me, but you lay in ruins.” Therefore, to be raised up from your former state of ruin you must love one another.

Dear brethren, remember that this house is still in process of being built in the whole world: this is the promise of prophecy. When God’s house was being built after the Exile, it was prophesied, in the words of a psalm: “Sing a new song unto the Lord; sing unto the Lord, all the earth.” For a new song our Lord speaks of a new commandment. A new song implies a new inspiration of love. To sing is a sign of love. The singer of this new song is full of the warmth of God’s love.  The work we see complete in this building is physical; it should find its spiritual counterpart in your hearts.

We see here the finished product of stone and wood; so too your lives should reveal the handiwork of God’s grace.  Let us then offer our thanksgiving above all to the Lord our God, from whom every best and perfect gift comes. Let us praise his goodness with our whole hearts. He it was who inspired in his faithful people the will to build this house of prayer; he stirred up their desire and gave them his help. He awakened enthusiasm among those who were at first unconvinced, and guided to a successful conclusion the efforts of men of good will. So God, who gives to those of good will both the desire and the accomplishment of the things that belong to him, is the one who began this work, the one who has brought it to completion.

Responsory.  They that adhere || to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants, will I make joyful in my house of prayer: * For my house shall be called the house of prayer, for all nations.  V. Their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar. * For my house … Glory be … For my house …