Resurrection Life Builds Unity

In today’s Gospel Jesus prays to His Father, saying, “All things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.” He is speaking here of the disciples. Christ says that He has been glorified in them. Truly, in the economy of God we are called to bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ in every way He opens up to us; to make His praise glorious. I have been reminded of this these last few days, especially this last Sunday, May 21, when I was able to worship the Lord in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. This venerable temple, built to the glory of God, has been doing just that – glorifying God – for over eight hundred fifty years. That’s 8 1/2 centuries of praising our Savior! Even in the spotty times of the Reformation and the French Revolution, even then its magnificent architecture was bearing powerful witness to the majesty and awesomeness of God. Notre Dame’s glorious organ with its vast array of almost eight thousand pipes, its ten bells made famous by Victor Hugo’s Hunchback, its stained glass windows giving hue to the Paris sun; all have been here through good times and bad, bearing witness to God’s faithfulness and love. Even though I was not very familiar with the human words in which the Liturgy was being celebrated, I was nonetheless familiar with the language: it was the language of worship, the language of praise, the language of love, the language of glorifying our Lord. Especially in the chanted portions of the Eucharistic service when the clear, pure voices of the young cantor and the choir lifted to fill the whole nave, the heavenly beauty of Notre Dame’s worship penetrates deep into one’s soul, revealing God’s beauty; whispering, no, shouting in a most peaceful shout, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Ostensibly I am here to chaperone a group of students from the school for which I work. But God knows better. He brought me, as He has brought untold tens of thousands over the centuries, to see His glory and to share His glory; to know His glory and to show His glory. Like all worship, this time in Notre Dame has changed me. And although we may never have a building quite like this to house the Cathedral of the King, it is comforting to know that the same God worshipped here is the same God being worshipped today in the LFMA Chapel. And it is inspiring to know that, at one point, Notre Dame was just a dream, just a vision on paper and in hearts. But the Lord decreed: “My Name will be glorified in this place.” As in Heaven, so on Earth. As in Paris, so in Bicutan.

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