ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICATION OF SAINT PIUS X CATHOLIC
CHURCH
27 FEBRUARY 2022
When Jesus
asks his disciples what others are saying about him, he is not surprised by
their answers: John the Baptist, Elijah,
Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. All
these answers have a common denominator.
People expected the Messiah to be in the line of prophets who would
speak God’s truth to his people.
However, Simon Peter gives the correct answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.”
Simon Peter has not made a lucky
guess. Nor has he figured this out on
his own. As Jesus points out, it is his
heavenly Father who has revealed this truth to him. Jesus is not impressed with Peter because of any
extraordinary intellectual abilities.
Nor is he impressed by any extraordinary holiness. Peter has neither of these qualities. When we read about Peter in the New
Testament, it is clear that he often sticks his foot in his mouth. The Scriptures also reveal the list of
Peter’s sins. He denies that Jesus should
fulfill his mission as a suffering servant.
He takes his eyes off Jesus when he walks on the waters of the Sea of
Galilee and sinks below the surface. He
falls asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asks him to watch and pray
with him. Worst of all, he is consumed
with fear and denies knowing Jesus three times.
Jesus is impressed with Peter’s
profession of faith. He has heard the
Word of God. He has also kept it close
to his heart and pondered it. He has
come to believe that the promise God has made to his ancestors has been
fulfilled in Jesus. We assemble every
Sunday in this church built of physical stones, because we are the spiritual
stones built on the rock of Saint Peter’s profession of faith to do what Peter
has done. We listen to God. We process our faith in his promise. We become one body in the Eucharist.
The Prophet Ezekiel describes
another sacred building built of physical stones. He writes to his people while in captivity with
them in Babylon. They have lost their
hope and have concluded that God has abandoned them. Their Temple in Jerusalem
had been destroyed by the invading Babylonians.
However, he sees himself standing on the Mount of Olives across the
Kedron Valley looking at a reconstructed Temple. Knowing that the Temple represents God’s
presence and love for his people, he sees life giving water flowing out of the
Temple, bringing life to everything it touches.
God’s love even brings life to the Dead Sea, demonstrating God’s
creative ability to restore the newness of the Garden of Eden.
We are here in this church built by
the incredible generosity of so many people for the honor and privilege of
praising God. We ask for Peter’s
intercession to do what he did in the presence of Christ, the Messiah. The Lord is truly present in the Sacramental
life of the Church. Despite Peter’s
weaknesses and failings, he gradually learned to surrender himself to the
life-giving waters of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can commit ourselves to imitate the model
of our patron, Pope Saint Pius X to renew all things in Christ. We can allow his life-giving waters to flow
through us and from us to make a difference in our world torn apart by sin,
division, hatred, and war.
On Wednesday, we will be marked
with the ashes that commit us to spend the next Forty Days seeking to renounce
our own wills and our own ways of doing things.
These Forty Days of grace can unite us more closely to the Mission of
Jesus Christ. As we use the tools of
prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we can answer the question Jesus had posed to
Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” Like Peter, we can respond to conform
ourselves more closely to the One who has given himself for us out of love.
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