Homily Consecration of Gethsemani Church: 241115

We are here to celebrate our feast. It is the solemnity of the Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of Gethsemani. It was Abbot Benedict who had the pleasure to have the Abbey Church consecrated in 1866 as a temple of the Lord, a place of worship, a place where God and human persons would meet.

Just imagine for a moment the excitement of the day. The Archbishop of Cincinnati, Most Reverend Purcell consecrated the Church and the high altar. Bishop Lavialle of Louisville, consecrated the altars of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph; Bishhop J. Timon, C.M., of Buffalo consecrated the altars of Saint Bernard and St. Stephen; the former superior and founder of Gethsemani, Eutropius blessed the altar of St. Robert and the Abbot of Mt. Melleray in Ireland blessed the altar of St. Benedict.

In addition to these dignitaries Msg. Spalding of Louisville, the Provincial of the Jesuits, the Provencial of the Dominicans, the Benedictine Prior of St. Joseph’s in Covongton Kentucky; The Superiors of the Dominicans in Louisville and St. Rose and the three Franciscans were among the honoured Guests. In the account I read, there is no mention of women religious being among the honoured Guests!

Just imagine all those dignitaries had to arrive at Gethsemani. I imagine they would have come by way of the Gethsemani rail station which is a little over a mile to the south and now part of the newly established distillery. It can be assumed that there were horses and carriages for the honoured guests to travel the last mile. In an account somewhere it is said that it was raining when they arrived and all during the next day. We all know the November rains of Kentucky when the Knobs look black and the damp cold chills one’s bones. All the guest would have had to be fed and have sleeping quarters.

The Liturgical ceremonies for the consecration of a Church were much more elaborate in the late 1800’s. There would have been a night vigil before the relics that would be encased in the high altar during the ceremony. Sometime during the Vigil ashes would have been sprinkled on the floor of the nave and one of the officiating clergy would have inscribed the Greek alphabet in the length of the Church. During the liturgy of the consecration the walls of the building would be consecrated in twelve positions and candles would have been inserted at those positions. We have the remains of that official mark of consecration in the twelve candles burning today.

I wonder if the Church was heated for the occasion.

What the monks of Gethsemani and the dignitaries of the Church in Kentucky and hopefully some of the local faithful were doing on this day in 1866, was responding to that deep desire of all peoples to know that God dwells among his people. Always there have been sanctuaries made by human hands. The Patriarchs realize with dread that God was in their midst, the tent of meeting that fluttered in the desert wind when Moses conversed with God face to face. Then there was the temple in Jerusalem which fixed the presence of the Lord Sabbath among his people.

Despite the attachment to Jerusalem Temple, the prophets were struggling to liberate the chosen people from a false sense of security. The People of God had come to believe that the presence of God was guaranteed by some building. It is rather the hearts of the people where God wants to dwell.

Jesus frequented the temple to demonstrate that he was one who loves the Lord and seeks his presence. His teaching about the Father’s house prepares for a new order where the ancient cultic sanctuaries give place to his own person.  At the death of Jesus, the veil of the sanctuary is torn. The true sanctuary where the human can meet God is the Body of Christ, the community of believers.

Our Gospel emphasizes the point when the Samaritan woman asks Jesus whether the true worship is at the local shrine or as the Jew’s claim, in Jerusalem. Jesus is emphatic that true worship is the Jewish way. And adds, “but the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirt and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”.

We gather here this morning in the very same Church – slightly altered to express our gratitude to the monks and benefactors who made this place as a place of encounter with God who ever seeks to know and love us. And this encounter brings us into the reality that our God is always with us; our God is within us; our God is Spirit and truth longing to live in our hearts so that God’s reality will always be our life and our guide.