Dedication of Church & Shrine - Bullsbrook

Intro: During the early history of the Jewish People, the Ark of the Covenant containing the Sacred Writings was housed in a tent on the outskirts of the camp; here the people would assemble, particularly on theSabbath, to be instructed by the priests. As their civilisation grew, and the various tribes united under Solomon, the tent, or tabernacle as it was also called, was replaced by the Temple. Legend has it that Solomon chose as a site for the Temple, Mt Zion where Abraham had built an altar to sacrifice his son Isaac and where the original covenant was made between God and His People. The entire religious and political history of Judaism is tied in with the Temple. In the bible it is represented as the Dwelling Place of the divine Presence. After the destruction of the Temple of Solomon by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., a new Temple was built in 537 B.C. at the end of the Babylonian Captivity. This temple was restored by Herod in 20 B.C. and destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. It was at this point that the Synagogue, a place of prayer and study, took over from the Temple. The remaining Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem has become the most sacred place of pilgrimage for Jews to-day.

Point 1: The first meetings for Christian worship were held in the homes of converts in rooms which, in many instances, may have been set aside and furnished for this particular purpose. Christianity spread rapidly throughout the roman Empire reaching out to Asia Minor, Greece and even Rome itself. Continual persecution during the first two and a half centuries, however, made secrecy necessary until freedom was proclaimed under Constantine in 313 A.D. During this time, private houses and the Catecombs in Rome were used as meeting places for prayer and study. These were comparatively safe refuges. The small chapel excavated in the underground passages of the Catecombs in Rome are the first examples of Christian architecture.

Point 2:As the Church grew and gained recognition, the desire to erect buildings to the glory of their God again gripped people. And so a number of magnificent Churches were erected during this period; some of them are still standing - the church where St. Paul is buried (St. Paul's Outside the Walls) in Rome; Santa Maria Maggiore, also in Rome; the basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople. However, there was a major difference between these buildings and the temples of the pagan religions. These were built to house the pagan idol, but the worshippers remained outside. The Christian churches were built to accommodate worshippers, the community of God's people thus signifying not only the divine Presence in Mystical form, but also reflecting God's real presence in and through His people. The building, in a manner of speaking, was the shell enclosing the real Church. Much as the shell of an egg encloses the real egg.

St. Peter, in his first letter, gives us a clear picture of what he believed the Church to be - a structure having Christ as its cornerstone with the believers making up the individual stones cemented by the mortar of love. He wrote -"like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ".

Our own experience of building tells us that in every building the stronger stones form the foundation to bear the weight of the superstructure. So, too, with the spiritual house. As St. Paul writes, "You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ himself being the cornerstone'. But each new age sees the need for new stones to be found as old stones weather and need to be replaced. The foundation stone, Christ, remains; we need to build on it. Happy, then, is that community in which replacement stones are constantly found to maintain the Church of Christ.

Conclusion:Inspired by the Virgin's love for her Son, a great work has been undertaken here at Bullsbrook. The early Church had the mother of Jesus in its midst. As apostolic times progressed, the Church speaks more and more of her. She is the living personification of the Church. We can approach her with confidence if this helps us to seeJesus with new eyes and enables us to reach Him more easily. The history of the Church both in the East and the West has always shown Mary to be a sure channel to Jesus.

To-day, then, is a happy day as we acknowledge the hard work that has achieved so much to date. Much more remains to ber done. Inspired by the image of the Church having Christ as its cornerstone with us as the superstructure, may this shrine help us to be strong stones. As St. Peter wrote -"like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house; to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ".