Build Your Spiritual House on Jesus the Foundation & His Sacred Heart
(with a Comment on Catholics & the Overturning of Roe v. Wade)
On the Occasion of the 135th Anniversary of the Cornerstone Laying & Dedication of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, CA, USA
In the popular story, “The Three Little Pigs,” a big bad wolf comes to three different houses made out of three different materials. The big bad wolf approached the first house which the first little pig made out of straw and also the second house which the second little pig made out of sticks.
The big bad wolf said to them, “Little pig, little pig, let me in.” Both pigs replied, “Not by the hair of your chiny-chin-chin.” The wolf replied, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.” And the two houses with weak foundations of straw and stick were destroyed.
When the big bad wolf approached the third house made out of brick, he said the same thing, but the wolf could not blow the house down. And the third pig defeated the big bad wolf since the house had a strong foundation and walls made out of bricks and a roof that could withstood any wolves or storms.
I
Today, we uniquely celebrate a great solemn feast for the Diocese of Sacramento where we live: the building and dedication of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento 135 years ago. We are reminded to build our spiritual house with not only strong material bricks but more importantly with strong spiritual bricks.
In today’s Gospel, while Jesus was in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, he said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” He was speaking, as we heard from John’s Gospel, about the temple of his Body. In three days after his crucifixion and death, the temple of Jesus’s body rose from the dead! As we know from history, the Temple of the Old Law in Jerusalem was eventually destroyed by the Romans in the year 70.
Jesus taught us how the Temple of the New Law (and every Catholic church building thereafter) is no longer made up of just materials that could be destroyed, as important as those are, but the foundation of the New Temple to worship God is a person, Jesus Himself, and that we are to worship Him not in a Temple in Jerusalem but in spirit and truth.
In the Diocese of Sacramento, the first cornerstone of our headquarters, the cathedra – or chair in Latin – was placed 135 years ago. It represents Jesus, the cornerstone of the Church. A Dominican priest named Fr. Peter Anderson, O.P., celebrated the first Mass in Sacramento. And from there, over 100 churches and dozens of more missions were built, including our very own parish St. Catherine of Siena in Vallejo, which is part of that story that eventually connects us to the 12 Apostles. [And you and I are part of this story of the Temple of God, the Church.]
II
In the First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, the Prophet Ezekiel had a mystical vision, “I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east.” The Temple that the Prophet Ezekiel saw was a Living Temple, Jesus, and the water flowing out from beneath the Living Temple was the blood and water that flowed out from Jesus on the Cross when the solder pieced Jesus’s side with a lance. The lance also stabbed Jesus’s Heart. This is one of my favorite hymns for the Easter Vigil, “I saw water flowing / from the right side of the Temple” [repeat]. Blood and water flowed out the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Cross. And just as Eve came from the side of Adam, so too the Church – the Bride of Christ – came from the side of Jesus. Side by side, next to Jesus.
June is the Month of the Sacred Heart. The devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is where one attends Mass for 9 consecutive First Fridays and also goes to Confession. It is a time to revive a Catholic spiritual life that has grown indifferent, cold and bitter. There were some promises attached to these including establishing peace in the homes, receiving all the graces you need in life, lukewarm souls will become fervent, and not dying without the Sacraments of the Church.
This is how we build a strong foundation in the Church, a life away from sin and towards God in the Eucharist. How blessed we are to live in a Diocese named after the Sacrament of the Eucharist where we eat the Heart of Jesus. Let the Eucharist, Jesus’s Heart, be the cornerstone, the bricks of the spiritual house that is our immortal souls. So that when the big bad wolves of evil come knocking at our doorsteps, our souls will be the Temple that withstands storms. As the Second Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
III
The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was celebrated last Friday, June 24. It was historic – one could say even providential – liturgically speaking. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned almost 50 years of Roe v. Wade on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
For those celebrating, Friday, June 24 was supposed to be the Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist, but for this year, the Feast of the Sacred Heart took precedence. As John the Baptist said: Jesus must increase, and I must decrease. But every year thereafter, the overturning of Roe v. Wade will be celebrated on the Birth of John the Baptist who leapt for joy in his mother’s womb when he recognized Jesus in his mother’s womb.
Yes, the Catholic Church worked hard to overturn Roe v. Wade since 1973, and that is why people are protesting and even disrupting Catholic Masses -- the most sacred act for any Catholic -- around the country. I see how non-Catholics respond with vitriol, but I have to admit, personally, I am baffled at Catholics that are not only disappointed with the overturning of Roe v. Wade but are actually lashing out with anger. It’s like building our spiritual house on straw and sticks. As the Church teaches, all innocent human life in the womb should be protected from the moment of conception to natural death— from natural beginning to natural end. The Church’s teachings are very clear. Her teachings on human life are Jesus’s teachings. As Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco said, both you and I will have to stand before God one day and give an account for innocent blood.
So here’s the gentle pastoral reaching out as charitably as possible to those who are disappointed or even angry: Sincerely bring it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in prayer and turn closer to Jesus because of this. Let Jesus know how you are feeling and thinking. Jesus can handle it! The mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will show those of you who are disappointed the way forward, if you are open to the water that flows from the right side of the Temple, Jesus, Our Savior.
IV
So in summary, dear brothers and sisters, as we celebrate a solemn day for the Diocese of Sacramento, there are three points to remember:
1.) First, Jesus is the Living Temple & you and I are a Temple of the Holy Spirit.
2.) Second, let us consider practicing the 9 First Friday devotion starting with the Month of the Sacred Heart to build our spiritual house on a strong foundation, Jesus [the Living Temple].
3.) Third, for the Feast of the Sacred Heart on June 24, let us turn to the mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Living Stone.
I saw water flowing, from the right side of the Temple. Alleluia! Alleluia!
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