[00:00:05] Hello! My name is Sally Moriarty-Flask; welcome to a special bonus episode of: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass in my home parish on Sunday, March 2, 2025, the Anniversary of the Dedication of Saint Pius X Catholic Church.
[00:00:29] This week's episode is entitled: We Are the Church and in these readings, we'll come to understand that being a member of the Church established by Jesus Christ means we must always become better… better people, better community, better Church.
[00:00:49] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
Our Church is more than just the walls that protect us from the elements… the walls only make a building, the people inside bring the Church to life. Like any living organism, we need to continually learn and grow. That is the challenge before us, are we up for it?
[00:01:16] Let's begin.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:20] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of the Church established by Jesus, your Son. Guide us ever in the path of your truth and strengthen us to live that truth as faithful members of your Church each day. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:43] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
[00:01:49] Our Gospel this week is from Matthew 16: 13-19.
[00:01:56] “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare’a Philip’pi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do men say that the Son of man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’”
[00:02:55] We hear this Gospel every year on the Anniversary of the Dedication because it is so foundational to who we are as Church. In it, Simon Peter declares the truth of Jesus’ identity in a way that is so bold, so beyond his own limited human knowledge, that it could only have been inspired by God. And Jesus, in return, gives Peter, and his successors, primacy over an organization that Jesus himself will establish… something new and different, something he calls the Church.
[00:03:37] Now, it's important for us to understand that Matthew is writing to a Jewish Christian audience. And as a Jew himself, he knows what they know. There is a commonality of lived experience, religious background, and knowledge of Scripture… and by Scripture of course, I mean the Jewish Scriptures (what we would call the Old Testament)… so the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Matthew uses that commonality - that shared Jewish heritage - in ways we modern Christians can't necessarily appreciate. So, I will do my best to explain some of those important connections as we encounter them.
[00:04:21] Today's passage marks a turning point in Matthew's Gospel. Jesus has finished his ministry in and around Galilee and is turning his attention to Jerusalem, where his destiny lies, where he knows he will suffer and die.
[00:04:41] We hear that Jesus takes his disciples away from the Jewish crowds, away from the scribes and Pharisees, away from all distractions, so far away that they actually go in to what is primarily Gentile territory. But Jesus has a very good reason for that, because he knows that he has to prepare his disciples for what is to come when they reach Jerusalem. So, with all that in mind, let's open up Matthew's Gospel…
[00:05:16] “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare’a Philip’pi,”
Let's stop there. Caesarea Philippi is about 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee and was the location - in ancient times - of a shrine dedicated to the Greek god, Pan.
[00:05:37] At the time of Jesus, it was the capital city of Philip (who was son of Herod the Great) and it was dominated by a Greek and Roman culture.
[00:05:49] When you go to Caesarea Philippi today, you see this huge, dramatic red rock cliff face. And at the base of that dramatic cliff is a large cave mouth still visible today, which in biblical times - the time of Jesus - what would have been referred to as the Gates of Hell precisely because of the area's long history of pagan worship. Keep that in mind… we'll need that tidbit before we finish up our Gospel.
[00:06:27] “[Jesus] asked his disciples, ‘Who do men say that the Son of man is?’”
The term Son of man is one that Jesus often uses to refer to himself in the Gospels. And its origin is from the books of the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel. Basically, what Jesus is asking his followers here is what gossip have you heard about me? What are people saying about me when I'm not around?
[00:06:55] “And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’”
[00:07:05] Now, by this time, John the Baptist had already been executed. So, some gossip may have been suggesting that John had returned. The return of Elijah was meant to herald the coming of the Messiah; speculation was rife at the time of Jesus that the Messiah's coming was imminent… so that was another possibility suggested by the gossip. And finally, the mention of Jeremiah or other prophets… by that, the gossip is suggesting that Jesus is perhaps speaking for God, but people are not yet willing to commit to anything beyond that.
[00:07:46] “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’”
Jesus poses this question directly to his disciples, absolutely… but he is asking us the same question.
[00:08:01] Who do we say that Jesus is? And each one of us must answer that question for ourselves.
[00:08:11] Bishop Robert Barron famously said that either Jesus was who he said he was, or he was a very bad man… and there's no middle ground there. Either Jesus is the Son of God, as he said, or he's a dangerous lunatic. And we either believe in him or we don't. We can't say that… well, maybe he wasn't really God, but he was a good moral teacher and maybe a prophet. No, no, no! You can't be a morally good person… you can't speak for God if - at the same time - you make outrageously false claims. Either he is the Son of God or he isn't… and either we believe or we don't. But we can't remain on the fence about this. Each of us needs to choose.
[00:09:04] Simon Peter, however, has an answer…
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”
[00:09:13] First, we need to realize that there are actually two different declarations in that statement. The first declaration is that Jesus is THE CHRIST, which is the Greek word for Messiah. Remember, the expectation was that the Messiah would be a human king, a conquering hero born of the house of David, certainly, but a hero that would liberate the Jewish people. Now, the second declaration that Peter makes is that Jesus is THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. So not just a human king, not just another conquering hero, but actually the divine Son of God himself.
[00:09:58] “And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon bar-Jona!’”
[00:10:03] This is one of those times when we need to understand convention. Simon bar-Jona is an example of how men would have been identified in biblical times. A Jewish man's given name - in this case Simon - would have been given to him by his family because the name was something that was common among one of his relatives; bar-Jona means son of Jona - indicating Simon's identity through his father. It was a patriarchal society, so Simon bar-Jona means: Simon, son of Jona. Simon is blessed because why?
[00:10:47] Jesus says…
“For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
By the words FLESH AND BLOOD Jesus means Simon's limited human understanding. In other words, Simon couldn't have come to that conclusion on his own. He couldn't have just logicked that out. Rather, Jesus says, Simon was inspired to provide that answer. He was given that knowledge directly by God… by God the Father, precisely so that he can be the rock. He can be what Jesus will go on to say… the rock on which he will build his Church. That knowledge, and the strength that God will give him… that knowledge, and the strength that God will give him, will allow him to carry out the formidable task that Jesus is about to set before him. Jesus says…
“I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.”
[00:11:56] Remember, before this he had officially been Simon, right? How did Jesus refer to him? Simon bar-Jona. Now he says: you are Peter. And name changes in Scripture are always significant… and they usually accompany a change in mission as well. And that is undoubtedly what happened here. Jesus gives Simon the name Peter (which is Cephas in Aramaic) and that name means rock. And remember, he does so standing within sight of this huge, dramatic red rock cliff face.
[00:12:40] That's not a coincidence! And Jesus continues, ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH. He doesn't say: on this rock, Peter, you will be my only church. He says - no, no - I WILL build my church. Simon Peter isn't the end… he's not one, he's not singular… he's just the beginning. And it's crucial to note that this is the first time the word CHURCH appears in Scripture. The word Church comes from the Greek word ekklesia, and it means to be called out of. So we, as Church, are called out of our old existence into a new and transformative way of living.
[00:13:37] Jesus goes on…
“and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
[00:13:43] Jesus' listeners would absolutely have understood that phrase better than we do. And there's so much more going on there than we realize. So, let me parse this out. Remember back at the beginning of our Gospel, I mentioned a cave mouth that was visible at the base of that dramatic red rock cliff face? And I said, keep that in mind… well, here we finally circled back to that. That cave, as I said earlier, was referred to as the gates of hell in Jesus' time because of the pagan worship that had typically - and traditionally - taken place there. Again, this location was no accident… it was no coincidence… it was a deliberate choice! Yes, Jesus took his disciples away from the crowds… but he took them 20 miles away from the crowds - for this reason… for this example to be before them.
[00:14:38] Jesus invokes the gates of Hades or the gates of hell, standing in sight of the cave mouth, the very cave associated with the evils of pagan worship, to illustrate that Peter is being given the task to combat evil in the world. On top of that, gates - at that time - would have been considered to be the weakest part of any wall. So, Jesus is telling Peter that not only is his job - and the job of the Church - to fight evil, but that it will be a monumental task. It's going to be hard, it's going to be a battle, and it's going to be a long one.
[00:15:27] Then Jesus goes on…
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,”
Again, Jesus’ listeners would have understood that phrase better than we do. Of course, we understand that having a set of keys means that we now have access to whatever the keys unlock, right? We get that. And - if you're Catholic - you know that Peter was given the keys… and we continue to see the keys in Rome… the keys of the kingdom. That's something that accompanies the papacy. That part is not unusual to us. So, access is true… on one level, but there's, as I said, so much more to it than that. We read - time and again - in the Old Testament (the Jewish scriptures), that kings entrusted keys to their stewards, not just as a means of granting them access to the treasury and the storage rooms, but more importantly, to endow them with the power and authority to act in the king's stead when he is absent. A chief steward would have been an extremely powerful man in any kingdom, second only to the king himself, and his position was hereditary!
[00:17:04] So Jesus is saying to Peter that not only will he be responsible for fighting evil in the world, but he will also be responsible for overseeing the Church that Jesus will establish. He will be responsible for God's people, and that he - and his successors - will act in Jesus' stead when he is absent. Those words, when they are properly understood, are precisely why Catholics accept the primacy of the Pope. Peter was the first Pope, the first leader of the Church… this new and different thing established by Jesus… and because his successors are inherent in the charge that was initially given to Peter, his authority has been passed down to his successors through the centuries. We, as Catholics, can trace our popes back from Pope Francis, who is our current pope, all the way back to Peter.
[00:18:32] That is an amazing thing!
[00:18:36] Then Jesus says…
“whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Catholics see, in these words, the basis of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which God absolves us of our sins and we are then reconciled with the community.
[00:18:58] To illustrate the profound authority that Jesus gives to Peter - the choices that he makes and that his successors will make (and whomever else they appoint to the mission) - whatever they say on earth will impact what happens in heaven… whatever is bound on earth will be bound in heaven. In other words, if our sins - on this plane - are not forgiven, they will not be forgiven in heaven, and whatever sins are forgiven here on earth will be forgiven in heaven. The keys Jesus gave to Peter were meant to make him the head of the Church so that he, Peter, and his successors could lead the Church when Jesus was no longer in the world. Remember, that's what Jesus is now in the process of doing… he is looking toward Jerusalem… he is looking toward his ultimate destiny… he is anticipating his Passion and Death on the Cross, and his Resurrection which will then take him back to the kingdom of heaven… meaning he needs a chief steward here on earth who will lead his Church, and he needs a steward who will have successors.
[00:20:24] That is Peter and all the popes that have followed in his stead.
[00:20:30] I will post some photos of Caesarea Philippi on my Instagram this week so you can see some of the things that I talked about. That red rock cliff face, the cave mouth, and some of the niches that still remain in the cliff face that would have held pagan statues. But that will help you get a sense of how big that rock cliff face is and, hopefully, breaking open this passage has helped develop a better understanding of what it means to be a member of the Church Jesus established.
I know I said at the beginning of this episode that we need to keep learning and growing, right, as church? We are a living thing, and we need to keep learning and growing, learning about our faith and growing stronger in it. Sometimes, though, we think of faith as something we do… something that's up to us… something that's our decision, that's within our control.
[00:21:44] And we often extrapolate that to mean: well, it's a personal thing. Those are both wrong! Faith is not a personal decision and it's not an individual practice! It's not something that we do privately in our own little world in the Church, or in our own little corner of our homes. It was never intended to be.
[00:22:15] Faith is a gift from God.
[00:22:21] Being a member of the Church makes our faith not a private, individual thing… it makes us part of a community… a living, growing, and worshiping community.
[00:22:42] So faith is a gift, but what we do with it is believe, right? Belief, on the other hand, is a process, and really, it's only belief that's within our control.
[00:22:57] Faith is a gift. Belief is up to us.
[00:23:01] But when we learn more about the gift of faith that God gives us, when we grow stronger in our belief in that gift, that is what makes us better people, a better community, and better Church.
[00:23:22] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from the 1 Kings 8: 22-23, 27-30.
[00:23:31] “Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; and said, ‘O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing mercy to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you this day; that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer which your servant offers towards this place. And hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yes, hear in heaven your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.’”
[00:24:58] That absolutely needs some context… 1 Kings 1-11 recounts the events from the death of King David to the death of King Solomon and the division of the kingdom of Israel into the kingdoms of Judah in the south and Israel in the north. To add a little background on today's passage, David, who became king of Israel after Saul, and who was Solomon's father, wanted to build a dwelling place for God, a temple worthy to be God's dwelling place on the earth. Remember, David built this huge palace for himself, and then when he was done with that, he wanted to build a home for God. But God, through the prophet Nathan, told David no - that David's son would be the one to build God's temple. So, David did not build the temple, but his son (and heir) Solomon did. Today's reading is Solomon's prayer of dedication, asking for God's blessing upon the temple which he had built.
[00:26:19] “Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;”
The ALTAR OF THE LORD mentioned above, mentioned just a moment ago, would have been in the upper court of Solomon's Temple, which would… which was a gathering space on the Temple Mount, but outside the temple confines where people would gather. Now, of course, there are no photos of Solomon's Temple, just as there are no photos of Herod's Temple or anything else from biblical times, right? Photography hadn't been invented, but I do have access to some graphics that have been created to illustrate from what we know - from historical documents, from the writings of some of the early historians, from scripture - all these different sources have been used to create graphics that illustrate what these various temples have looked like. So, I will include a graphic of what Solomon's Temple would have looked like and also a graphic of Herod's temple, so you can compare the size.
[00:27:42] “and [Solomon] said, ‘O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing mercy to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;’”
[00:27:59] Again, this is far removed from what we understand of God, so let's parse this out a bit.
At the time of Solomon, gods (and by this I mean lower “g” gods, right?) - gods were thought to be territorial… existing within specific geographic boundaries. And not only that, but also limited by those geographic boundaries. Solomon, however, declares - in this prayer - that the God of Israel is unique. Now, we already know that because throughout the Bible, from the earliest times, God has always been with his people, no matter where they were, right? Think of Abraham leaving the land of Ur in the Chaldees and heading off to a new home… God stayed with him. The God that we know, the one true God, is not territorial, he's not limited. And Solomon makes that absolutely clear in this prayer, that the God of the Israelites is unlike any other being that people would have understood at that time.
[00:29:14] And his faithfulness toward his people is boundless, Solomon says. Then he continues…
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built!”
[00:29:37] So basically, Solomon is saying that while other gods (lowercase “g” gods) may dwell within their temples, no matter how majestic the temple in Jerusalem is, it will never be big enough or grand enough to contain God.
“Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you this day;”
That day - the day the temple was dedicated in Jerusalem - Solomon is saying that day is like no other. The prayers offered on that day will establish a pattern for the future.
[00:30:23] Solomon goes on…
“that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house,”
In other words, Solomon is asking God to constantly watch over the Temple.
“the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’”
What Solomon is saying - here - is that God has agreed to dwell within the Temple in a special - but certainly not an exclusive - manner. When he says: MY NAME SHALL BE THERE… that's what God means.
[00:31:01] And God can choose to be present within the Temple, but he can never be contained by it.
[00:31:13] And just to be clear, Jews do not say the name of God. They say Adonai, right? And when Scripture refers to the name of God, as this passage does, generally it's shown as L-O-R-D, Lord, in all capital letters. And that is intended to represent the tetragrammaton, the four letters that make up God's name: YHWH.
[00:31:44] Solomon goes on…
“that you may listen to the prayer which your servant offers towards this place. And hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place;”
The servant here, of course, is Solomon.
[00:32:04] So, what Solomon is really asking is for God to listen to his own individual prayer, certainly, but also to listen to the prayers of all the people, regardless of their exact physical location. That's what he means when he says: WHEN THEY PRAY TOWARD THIS PLACE so that their prayers will be as efficacious as if they were themselves present in the Temple. Again, that's that idea of the way the prayers will be accepted on this day of dedication will be a template for the future.
[00:32:46] “yes, hear in heaven your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.”
[00:32:53] I spoke recently about the time the Judges, the time before the monarchy, which was a period in Israel's history marked by repeated cycles of sin, punishment, repentance, and forgiveness. What Solomon is really asking God for here, is to continue to forgive the Chosen People if, or when, they fail to remain faithful to the covenant… that just as he has always done, may he continue to do.
So, WHEN YOU HEAR, FORGIVE.
[00:33:31] And that really applies to us as well, don't you think?
[00:33:36] We don't always live our Baptismal promises perfectly. We don't always behave as Jesus taught us to in the Gospels. So, we too ask for God's mercy and forgiveness for all the times we fail. Admitting we're wrong is humbling, asking for forgiveness is hard, but those difficult experiences are opportunities… they're opportunities for us to learn, and grow, and become better. That is precisely what we do in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which we heard established at the end of the Gospel.
[00:34:17] Our Responsorial Psalm this week is Psalm 122 and the refrain is:
“Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”
[00:34:25] This is another one of those instances when the refrain we hear is a paraphrase of the original text. I checked the text of so many translations: the RSV, the NAB, the Grail Psalter, the Hebrew Masoretic text, the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the Douay Rheims, the New Jerusalem Bible. I even tried the King James Version, thinking the Protestant text might be helpful. None of the resources I checked had the word REJOICING in verse one. Therefore, the only conclusion I can draw is that it is a paraphrase… that's fine, just understand it's not in the original text.
[00:35:12] And here are the verses:
[00:35:14] “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem, built as a city which is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD. For my brethren and companions’ sake I will say, ‘Peace be within you!’ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.”
[00:35:46] This Psalm is classified as a Song of Zion, and it's one of the Ascent Psalms, right? Those are Psalms 120 - 134, and those are Psalms that travelers would have sung as they approached the city of Jerusalem on pilgrimage. I know I've talked about this before, but there were three major pilgrim festivals in the Jewish calendar when all faithful Jews who were able to travel were required to travel to the temple in Jerusalem. Passover was one of them.; Shavuot (also known as the Feast of Weeks) was the second - and those are both spring festivals - and then Sukkot (or the Feast of Booths) that was a fall festival.
[00:36:36] Of course, with the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD, pilgrimages are no longer obligatory.
[00:36:45] I did look up some current Jewish recommendations, however, and every Jew is highly encouraged to visit Israel at some point during their lives. It's not a requirement, but it's, let's just say, it's a very strong recommendation.
[00:37:04] That leads us to our Second Reading, which is from Saint Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 2: 19-22.
[00:37:14] “[Brothers and Sisters:] You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you are also built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
[00:37:49] Now, while Paul identifies himself as the author of the Letter to the Ephesians, there is nevertheless some question among theologians as to whether he actually wrote the letter himself or one of his followers wrote it in his name. If Paul was the actual author, it would most likely be considered to be one of the Captivity Letters, which were written between 61 & 63 AD, when Paul was being held as a prisoner in Rome.
[00:38:20] If, however, one of Paul's followers wrote it in his name, it was most likely composed sometime after Paul's death, and that was - Paul died 64/65 AD - somewhere around there. And it actually may have been written as late as 80 - 90 AD.
[00:38:41] Now, does that really matter? No, it's just a piece of information for your edification. And other than that, it's really just something for theologians to argue about. The Church attributes the letter to Paul, and right now that's all that matters. But it's interesting to note that opinions differ on the matter. What opinions don't differ on, however, is that this letter was sent to the inhabitants of the city of Ephesus, which was a seaport on the Aegean Sea. It was a worldly, metropolitan city with a well-educated population. And the purpose of the letter - at the time - was to promote unity among all believers in the early Church, whether they were Jewish Christians by origin or Gentile Christians by origin. To promote unity among all members of the Church.
[00:39:45] Its value for us today is that it really addresses who we are as Church and what our mission is in the world.
[00:39:58] “[Brothers and Sisters:] You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”
[00:40:10] In other words, we have found our home… and it is the Church. We will no longer be considered strangers or outsiders or travelers… we will no longer be tossed about by the storms of life… we are members of God's family. This is now our identity, it is the identity of the Church and every one of its members.
[00:40:44] At the time the letter was written, as I said, it was intended to promote unity, but it was also intended to promote tolerance and understanding between Jewish and Gentile Christians.
[00:41:00] And that's how unity is built, right? With tolerance and understanding. That is a good reminder to us today - as well - that we cannot fall into different factions and fight within our own Church community. We are one Church!
[00:41:22] “[we are] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,”
[00:41:28] What Paul is talking about here is the importance of both the Jewish Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) which is what he means when he says prophets… but he also means the Good News of Jesus Christ - which is what he means when he says apostles. And so, for our purposes, we still have the Old Testament, of course, right? The Jewish Scriptures - we call them the Old Testament - but we also have the written New Testament. So, in terms of today, that line - for us - that sentence means… that phrase means… that our faith, our belief in the gift of faith that God gives us rests on both the Old and the New Testaments. Both are equally important.
[00:42:27] “Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;”
Now, a cornerstone - we tend to think of them as being mostly ceremonial anymore - but a cornerstone was the foundation stone upon which an entire building would have been erected. Having a cornerstone that was square and strong ensured that the walls of the building would rise straight and true and that the building would be sturdy. Without its cornerstone, a building would collapse. What Paul is really saying is that Jesus - who is our cornerstone - supports the weight of the entire Church… he holds us up… without him, we would collapse.
[00:43:25] And Jesus keeps it strong, upright, true, and sturdy.
[00:43:33] In a homily on the Letter to the Ephesians, Saint John Chrysostom wrote that Jesus is the chief cornerstone, binding together the walls and the foundations.
[00:43:46] Okay, so what are the walls and what are the foundations? Well, the foundations - think back to what I just read… the foundations are the apostles and the prophets - meaning Sacred Scripture. So, then what are the walls? Well, that's us. We are the living stones that make up the walls of Christ's church… his holy temple. And we - in turn - will support those who come after us… future generations will stand on our shoulders!
[00:44:24] And we cannot ignore the word GROWS in that sentence, right? THE WHOLE STRUCTURE IS JOINED TOGETHER AND GROWS INTO A HOLY TEMPLE, meaning that the Church is not static and unchanging, but organic and living.
[00:44:42] The church is housed in a whole bunch of buildings, certainly, and they come in handy to keep the rain and snow out. But, more than that, the Church is people - it is us - all together we make the Church a living thing whose growth and nourishment comes from Christ.
[00:45:05] “the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
[00:45:18] Individually and communally, we GROW INTO A HOLY TEMPLE and are BUILT INTO A DWELLING PLACE OF GOD IN THE SPIRIT. And we can't do that alone… that doesn't mean just one of us… it takes all of us! We all have to do it together.
[00:45:41] Every member of the Church is precious, important, necessary, and we have to cooperate with God, certainly, but also with each other. Together we can be up for the challenge that is before us… to learn and grow so that we become better together… better people and better community.
[00:46:15] Challenge accepted! Because, together… We Are the Church!
[00:46:24] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for listening and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
[00:46:43] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening. Happy Anniversary Saint Pius and God Bless.
