I love to go back home. As you drive from the big city setting to the small country town things change. The land becomes quieter and the atmosphere is little more peaceful. The rushed pace of city living surrenders to a slower pace existence of the rural affair.
As you approach my home town, as you maneuver over the rising and falling of the hills, there off in the distance the steeple of the Catholic Church rises high to greet you. The steeple stands tall and towers above casting a shadow upon all who are below.
It is striking and beautiful image. It is a reminder to all that we always live beneath the shadow of the cross. We live, breathe, move and have our being in the shadow of the cross which is the wake of victory.
Every time I spy the rising steeple as it cast it shadow below, as it marks the horizon, I think of Jesus' words to his disciples before he died. He gathers them together to encourage them and he tells them, "do not fear, do not be afraid, I have already conquered the world."
As the steeple rises high it is a public testimony of victory, a public testimony that all who gather beneath the steeple gather to celebrate victory.
It wasn't always this way. The cross wasn't always allowed to be on public display.
For the first 300 years of the early Church, Christianity was a forbidden religion, a forsaken faith. Christians were considered to be enemies of the state, public enemy number one; they were looked upon as criminals, renegades, rebels reeking havoc on the Roman Empire.
They had to gather together in secret places, hidden and out of sight. They would worship in cemeteries at night, or locked behind close doors in someone's home, or underground in the catacombs.
Then something happened.
Around the year 300, a Roman Emperor, who had come from a long line of Roman emperors who made sure that the soil of the empire was fertilized by the blood of Christians, had a conversion.
As the Emperor Constantine was riding out to battle he had a vision. The cross appeared in the sky and he was told 'by this sign you shall conquer.' He marked the armor of his men with the cross and rode out to battle and came back victorious.
In 313 AD, out of gratitude, he declared that Christianity was to be a lawful religion. It could be publicly celebrated.
Over night it seemed the Church went from hiding under ground to standing tall above it. The prayers of faithful that were once spoken in a whisper, hushed behind closed doors was now echoing through the open streets of the empire, resounding through the vaulted ceilings of cathedrals publicly dedicated to Christ our Saviour.
In plain sight, in broad day light, Christians now publicly proclaimed the Good News; they would bend their knees and bow theirs heads in worship, raising their voices in praise for love had conquered fear and light had come into the darkness and the darkness did not over come it.
As they gathered to public worship the words of Jesus flooded their memories, "do not be afraid, I have already conquered the world."
The first church to be publicly dedicated was St. John Lateran, whose dedication we commemorate this day,a church raised on the blood of martyrs.
It is the mother of all churches. It is the Church of the Bishop of Rome. It stands as a sign of unity, as a sign of hope that God's kingdom is at hand, that God's Kingdom will not be denied.
As you approach the Basilica today, towering above the city of Rome is a 7 meter statue of Jesus with a cross in one hand and the other pointing out toward world. He is surrounded by his apostles and he gives them the great commission, "go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all I have commanded you and behold I am with you always until the end of the age.
For 1700 years the steeple has stood tall, it has marked the horizon for all to see, and men and women have walked through the ages beneath the shadow of the cross gathering publicly to celebrate victory in Christ.
We gather today to commemorate this victory. As we gather, we too give the men and women who shed their blood, who share in Christ' victory, honor, not just today but every time we gather publicly.
When we gather, we become that public sign of victory. For like the church, that was dedicated with sacred oil, so too we remember that we ourselves are dedicated a temple at Baptism; as the oil is poured upon our heads we are consecrated and set apart for a mission, to be a public sign of victory in our very lives we live. We remember that just as the steeple marks the horizon, so too our forehead was marked with the sign of the cross at baptism, we were claimed for Christ to be that sign of victory.
As the steeple rises high and reminds us of victory may each of our lives always carry the message forth that the Kingdom of God is at hand, salvation has come, the world is redeemed in Christ's blood; may we hear the words of Christ and may they be our strength, "do not be afraid, I have already conquered the world."
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