Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, Pt 2:4-9 Jn 4: Praised be Jesus Christ, now and for ever. Amen.

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1 MASS FOR THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH DEDICATION OF HOLY SPIRIT CHURCH AND CONSECRATION OF THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE, MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MISSOURI AUGUST 11, 2007 Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, Pt 2:4-9 Jn 4:19-24 Praised be Jesus Christ, now and for ever. Amen. 1. Our parish church is the pre-eminent place of God s dwelling with us and, therefore, the object of our special attention and devotion. It is God s dwelling with us in the most wonderful way of all, because, on the altar of sacrifice of our parish church, our Lord Jesus Christ makes always new for us the outpouring of His Life for us on Calvary. For that reason, the altar of sacrifice is the point of focus of every church. 2. Our Lord Jesus also remains with us in our parish church in the hosts consecrated at the altar of sacrifice and reposed in the tabernacle after Holy Communion. The tabernacle is placed in direct relation to the altar of sacrifice, so that, upon entering the church, our eyes are directed, at once, to the altar and to the tabernacle. 3. What is more, the Word of God is solemnly proclaimed in our parish church for our instruction and inspiration. Even as the people of God, who had returned from the Exile, rejoiced in the public proclamation of the Word of God by the priest Ezra, so our hearts are purified and uplifted each time that the Word of God is proclaimed to us from the ambo of our parish church (Reading I). Through the proclamation of the Word of God, we are led to know more deeply God s love of us, as it is expressed most fully in Christ s Sacrifice, and to respond with pure and selfless love, uniting our hearts to His Heart through His Eucharistic Sacrifice. 4. The chair of the priest symbolizes the sacramental presence of Christ, Head and Shepherd of the

2 Father s flock, in the parish priest who acts in the person of Christ when he proclaims the Word of God and instructs us in the meaning of God s Word for our daily living, and, most of all, when he offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice. 5. Closely related to the altar, the tabernacle, the ambo and the chair of the priest is the confessional, in which the priest, acting in the person of Christ, receives the confession of our sins and absolves us of our sins, imparting to us the graces of pardon and peace, in order that we may be ever more fully disposed to hear Christ s holy Word, to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, and to receive Him in Holy Communion (Gospel). The confessional is a reminder to us of the daily conversion of life to Christ, for which communion with our Lord heals and strengthens us, and which leads us to desire communion with our Lord always. 6. The architecture of our parish church, all of its furnishings and appointments, and all of the vestments, linens and vessels which are employed in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy in our parish church point to the profound reality of our life in Christ. In our parish church, Christ pours forth the grace of the Holy Spirit from His glorious pierced Heart into our hearts; He brings us to life in Him, and He heals and nourishes His life within us. He gives us the grace to worship God in Spirit and truth, that is, to have true communion with God and to offer our whole being in service of God both through our participation in Eucharistic worship and through a life of charity which has its origin in our worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament and reaches its highest expression when we participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. In his Postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church s Life and Mission, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that every aspect of our life is transformed by the Holy Eucharist, by the union of our hearts with the Heart of Jesus. He declares: Worship pleasing to God thus becomes a new way of living our whole life, each particular moment of which is lifted up, since it is lived as part of a relationship with Christ and as an offering to God (Pope Benedict XVI, Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church s Life and Mission, 22 February 2007, n. 71). Entering our parish church, we are reminded of the extraordinary nature of our everyday life because Christ lives in us, and we are filled with new confidence and joy. 7. In truth, in our parish church, we receive, into our souls, the light and life of Christ, so that we can bring the light and life of Christ to the world. In the words of the Apostle Peter, we are a chosen race, a royal 2

3 priesthood, a holy nation, a people of [God s] own, in virtue of our communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Through the Eucharistic Sacrifice, our hearts are united with the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and, from the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, we bring to the world the light and life which Christ alone can give us in the Church (Reading II). 8. Our parish church is both the House of God and the House of the Church. Our communion with God in the parish church is, at one and the same time, communion with all of our brothers and sisters, especially those who are in most need, both those known to us and those whom we do not know but nevertheless we love, and those whom we find it difficult to like but nevertheless we love. The beauty of our parish church draws our minds and hearts to Christ Who shares with us the gift of Divine Love, without boundaries or exceptions. It also draws us to the even greater beauty of a holy life, lived in Christ. Just as God the Son dwells in our parish church as our guest, so He dwells within each of us through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Our parish church, the altar of sacrifice, the tabernacle, the ambo, the priest s chair and the confessional all reflect the reality of God s life with us, of His all-merciful love of us. 9. The heart of the Rite of Dedication is the Consecration of the Altar of Sacrifice, which is completed by the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice on the altar for the first time. Without the altar of sacrifice, there is no parish church. With the altar of sacrifice, Christ comes to us always and in the most wonderful ways to be our faithful companion along the way of our life pilgrimage home to God the Father. The altar is anointed with the Sacred Chrism because it is the most sacred part of our parish church; it is truly the place in which Christ pours out His life for us. 10. At the same time, the altar of sacrifice reveals to us the deepest meaning of our lives. Because we are truly united with Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, accomplished on the altar of our parish church, we, in turn, are called to become altars of sacrifice with Him, to give our lives completely in love of God and of our neighbor. United in heart and, indeed, in our whole being, with our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to offer our life as a pure and holy sacrifice. It is indeed our identification of self with the altar of our parish church which calls forth daily the very best which we have to offer, which enables us to go beyond our self-centered and sinful tendencies in order to offer ourselves each day as a sincere gift of love to God and to our neighbor. 11. The placement of the relics of martyrs and of other saints within or beneath the altar reminds us that 3

4 our life in Christ makes us one with the Communion of Saints. The saints are our inspiration to us in offering to Christ every aspect of our daily living. At the same time, they are our loving intercessors who pray for us in our every need. At every offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the entire Communion of Saints joins us in praise and worship of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 12. The importance of our parish church and of the altar for our daily progress in the pilgrimage home to God the Father is underlined from the moment of our entry into the Church through Baptism. Immediately after our baptism, we are brought to the altar to be blessed. Once baptized, every Sunday we gather before the altar of the Lord to be instructed by God s Holy Word and to be nourished by the gift of His Life. Likewise, the Sacrament of Matrimony, the Sacrament of Holy Orders and the public consecration of one s life to Christ and to the Church are all celebrated at the altar. Finally, when we have died, our earthly remains are brought to our parish church and to the altar for a final time before they are placed in the tomb to await the Resurrection of the Body, on the Last Day. In the altar, on which our Lord Jesus Christ comes to dwell with us and to pour out His life for us, is found the meaning and destiny of each of our lives. 13. With these thoughts in mind, we understand the solemn rite by which our parish church is dedicated and the altar is consecrated. In the Prayer of Dedication, we ask God our Father to make this church an ever-holy place, and this altar a ready table for the sacrifice of Christ (The Roman Pontifical, Dedication of a Church and an Altar, Dedication of a Church, Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1989, n. 62). We pray that, gathered before the altar, the faithful of this parish will be fed at the table of Christ s Word and Christ s Body (Ibid.). We ask that from this parish church the prayer of the whole Church may rise to God the Father as a plea for the world s salvation (Ibid.). Finally, we pray that in this church the poor may find justice, the victims of oppression, true freedom, and we all may be prepared for the day of Christ s Final Coming (Ibid.). The rites which follow the Prayer of Dedication draw out the richness of meaning of this parish church for us and for all who will enter it. 14. Lastly, I, together with your pastor, Father Richard Bockskopf, and with Father Terry Borgerding, your Associate Pastor, and the other priests present who are either native sons of the Parish or have served in the Parish, will offer the Sacrifice of the Mass in this newly-dedicated church, on the newly-consecrated altar. The offering of the Holy Mass is the principal and most ancient part of the whole rite of dedication of a church, for the celebration of the Mass is the reason for the building of this church and, in a real sense, the church is only fully blessed when our Lord Jesus Christ makes Himself present upon its altar through 4

5 the mystery of the Holy Eucharist and is reposed in its tabernacle (Rite of Dedication of an Altar, Introduction, n. 23). 15. You who are the members of Holy Spirit Parish have sacrificed and labored diligently to reach the day of the dedication of your new parish church. The history of your new parish and your new parish church is the story of the sorrow of members of three parishes giving up what had been their familiar parish life, in order to form a new and dynamic parish; it is the story of faith in Christ and love of Christ which gives sure hope that the Way of the Cross leads to the glory of the Resurrection. As your bishop, I offer you my heartfelt thanks and compliment you most highly for your faith and for your many sacrifices offered in love of Christ and His Church, which you have made and are making to express your faith in this beautiful new House of God and House of the Church. In a particular way, I thank Father Richard Bockskopf, your dedicated and tireless shepherd throughout the time of the formation of your new parish and the building of the new parish church. I thank Father Borgerding and all of the parishioners and other faithful, without whom we could never have reached the glory and joy of this day. God will more than repay you with the abundance of His blessings. 15. As we now dedicate your parish church and consecrate its altar, let us recognize the great mystery of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in our midst, offering Himself to God the Father for our eternal salvation. Let us join ourselves to Him, offering our lives as a sincere and pure gift of love to God and to our neighbor. May the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, the first and the best of the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, lead us to Her Son and assist us to place our hearts, with her Immaculate Heart, in His Most Sacred Heart, totally, today and for ever. Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America and Star of the New Evangelization, pray for us. Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, pray for us. Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, pray for us. 5