Homily for the Feast
of the Anniversary of the
Dedication of St.
Patrick’s Cathedral
Oct. 5, 2023
John 4: 19-24
Christian Brothers, St.
Joseph’s Residence, New Rochelle, N.Y.
“The hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth” (John 4: 21).
Commenting on the dialog between Jesus and
the Samaritan woman, Bp. Barron writes:
She
is seeking the center and orientation of her life, not in the properly eternal
reality of God, but rather in a particular religious tradition. She is wondering whether to anchor her life
in one of those necessary powers—one of those great principalities that falls,
nonetheless, short of God.
Jesus’
answer to this question is magnificent:
“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship neither on
this mountain nor in Jerusalem…. God is
spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” In other words, the divine is not a reality
in this world, not something that can be caught in the categories of finitude,
not “this” or “that,” but is rather spirit that transcends even those necessary
powers that are the great religious traditions.*
The feast of our cathedral, then, is
really not a feast of a building, as beautiful as it is, but a feast of the
Spirit of God building up his people in holiness. The real Church is God’s people, not a
building. As persons who act, speak, and
think thru our bodies, naturally we need some physical place to gather. So churches and cathedrals are important. But the “center and orientation of our life”
isn’t in them. Buildings are but aids
that direct us toward the deeper reality that God dwells with us and he leads
us toward his eternal temple, where we shall worship him in joyful glory
forever.
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