Feast of the Dedication of the Cathedral of St. Raphael July 7, 2025

At the beginning of the week, we have our plans ready to organize our efforts.  Plans for the day, plans for the future, retirement plans.  We set our goals, and then plan to meet them.  It isn’t just going to happen; it takes effort and planning.

It is the sense of purpose and meaning that makes it all worthwhile.  What is this all for?  We need to remain focused and directed to what we are aiming for.  Too easy to get distracted by the many “for’s” that crop up and fragment our energy.  We need to be dedicated to our real goal.

No one builds a building without having a clear blueprint, goal, or purpose in mind.  The work has to be coordinated.  The architect’s plan has to be followed.  Upon this rock I will build my Church.  We are God’s building.  It is wonderful to know that God the builder is dedicated to completing his church, that He is dedicated to us.  You are God’s building, His dwelling place.  You are Peter.  God’s word is a revelation to us of who we are.  Introspection or self-analysis is not going to disclose this.  Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you.  God is the planner, the architect.  He sub-contracts out much of the work, but it is his vision and intention that give coherence and order to the whole.  Some wonder if creation exhibits intelligent design.  It does exhibit loving and caring design.  It is not always easy to understand how things are fitting together from our personal vantage point.  When the work and building is done, we will see how it all fit together.  What seems useless will be discovered as of crucial value.

When we say, I am going to church, we can mean I am going to a physical structure, a building.  Yes, that is true.  The church can also mean the organizational structure, with the hierarchy, etc.  Yes, that is the church, too.

It can also mean I am joining the community of believers in their worship of the living God.   Yes, that is true.  It can also mean that I am entering communion of life in the unity of humanity and divinity revealed in Christ.  That is true, too.  I am going to church.  I am church.  All at once.

The Church, St. Raphael’s Cathedral, manifests in stone (living) and concrete the divine purpose which is the center of all the human activity which contributes to the upbuilding of God’s People and the Kingdom. It is dedicated to cooperating in the divine work of redemption and salvation, where human and personal meaning are addressed and transformed by the meaning and intention of God.  The church is the space we create to hear and respond to the Word of God.