Sunday, July 28, 2024 – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
A few weeks ago, while walking back to the rectory after delivering mail to Purcell Marian High School, I viewed our newly redone church tower on a sunny day with a perfect blue sky in the background. All I could say was “wow!” As I continued to walk and viewed, I noticed how it directly pointed to the heavens, and even the four clock faces pointed the same way to the sky (12:00)—they still need to be repaired and reset. Also on that hot day, I decided to wear an old parish t-shirt that said I Love St. Francis de Sales Parish. Strangely enough, in my goings and comings that day, people not connected with the parish stopped me and commented on how beautiful the church looks since the repairs have been completed.
As I consider my experience of that day, it makes clear our church is a strong symbol for the East Walnut Hills Community. That was true before the repair work, but it is even more evident now. The tower/clocks pointing to the heavens makes a statement that our parish is a sign of hope. A sign to turn our attention to what is most important—to God and God’s guidance to us. It calls us to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. There is a great deal of meaning in this very old building we are making every effort to maintain.
The church is a wonderful symbol in our neighborhood, but that is just the beginning. What gives it the most meaning and importance is what flows from it—and that is us: God’s faithful ones. We are the ones who by our witness and example bring the church truly alive, not just for ourselves spiritually, but for those in our neighborhood. The combination of structure and witnesses says to the neighborhood community that there is hope and promise in the questionable times we find ourselves in when many wonder where they can turn to.
We learn in Matthew’s Gospel what a temple/church is for and what it calls us to do. “’My house shall be called a house of prayer…’ The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.”(21:13-14). In the same way, our church is to be a place of prayer and reflection where we receive the blessings and grace from our “God encounter” and then to go forth to heal, mend, and proclaim God’s goodness to all we see. Again, the combination (structure/faithful people) offers a powerful package of hope.
In our post June 23 dedication and celebration times, let us not forget nor take for granted the powerful symbol and witness we have in our church and those of us who occupy it faithfully.