Clotile talked ol’ Boudreaux into taking her to New Your City because there was a Broadway show she really wanted to go and see, primarily because Pierre, the lead dancer, was a fella from Louisiana. Well, they fly up to Yankee Central and go to the show.
Soon after the show starts, Pierra walks onto the stage and starts doing the most beautiful, energetic, and exciting dancing that either of them has ever seen. His dances include some elegant ballet and some modern dance. At one point, he incorporates some contemporary dancing like the moonwalk, break dancing, and even some energetic acrobatic dancing. Suddenly, Clotile turns to Boudreaux and, pointing to Pierre on the stage, says, “I didn’t tell you this before, but I know this man from my ‘previous life.’ In fact, he proposed to me nearly 20 years ago, but I quickly rejected him as he just wasn’t my type.”
Boudreaux nodded understandingly and said, “Well, it looks to me like he’s still celebrating!” I’m guessing ol’ Bordeaux was also wishing he had been rejected.
This past week, I came across a short news story about an archeological site in southeastern France. As they went through the dig, they came across a piece of tile flooring, maybe two feet by one foot. There wasn’t anything extraordinary about it—no hieroglyphs or mosaics—but right in the middle was a toddler’s footprint. You can imagine Dad working hard to make the tiles, and while his back is turned, his child walks across the freshly poured tile. It reminded me of a few of the tiles at the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine. When those were made, they were placed in the sun to dry, and a happy dog had walked across some. I may have mentioned it to you before, but after the guide pointed it out, it was easy to spend more time looking for paw prints than it was looking at the cathedral.
As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of my trip to Portugal and my time in some of the ancient cathedrals and monasteries. During the tour of the Monastery of Batalha—construction began in 1386—our tour guide pointed out various symbols carved into each stone. Each symbol was simple but unique. These are known as “banker’s marks” and are the “signature” of the stone mason who cut the stone so that when the stone arrived at the construction site, the mason could receive payment for his work. Like those paw prints in the tiles at the Rother Shrine, once you knew banker’s marks were there, you looked for them.
With those hand-cut stones, not only were the great cathedrals built, but so were castles, sea walls, and other buildings, public and private. What is so surprising and difficult to understand is that those cathedrals and other structures that were constructed centuries upon centuries ago are still standing. Yet, we’ve got buildings that were built fifty years ago that are completely falling apart. Why? There are several reasons, but part of the answer lies in the concrete used to hold those stones together.
The concrete we use today has a life span of fifty to one hundred years, but the concrete used to build the Mayan temples—temples that are over 1,000 years old and still standing—is still in place and not going anywhere. A recent article stated, “Even in harbors, where seawater has been battering structures for ages, you’ll find concrete ‘basically the way it was when it was poured 2,000 years ago.’” (Source) That being the case, scientists are now studying the makeup and chemistry of the concrete used 1,000s years ago to see if it can be recreated.
Put all that together, if you want to build something that is still standing in a millennium, you’ll need the right material, but you’ll also need a good plan and a solid foundation. In his book Walden, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” (Chapter 18) Once you have these things, good material, and a solid foundation, you lay the first stone—the cornerstone. The cornerstone “is the first stone that is set in the construction of the foundation and all other stones are set in reference to this stone. This stone determines the position of the entire structure.” (Source)
Jesus has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, cleansed the temple of the money changers, and been in arguments with the religious leaders. They are not happy with Him. The feeling is mutual. In response to their actions, Jesus said, “Listen to another parable.” He then tells the parable of the wicked tenants.
A man has a vineyard. After everything is in place for its safekeeping, the owner hires some tenants to care for it. Those tenants get to keep a portion of what they grow, but they also owe the owner a significant amount—more than they would get to keep. In the parable, when the owner sends his slaves to collect what is due, the tenants beat, stone, and murder them. The owner then sends his son, thinking the tenants would deal rightly with him, but the tenants say, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” We kill him, and we get everything.
After telling the parable, Jesus asked the religious leaders, “‘When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’” By answering such, the religious leaders have condemned themselves, for in the parable, the vineyard’s owner represents God the Father, the vineyard represents the people of God, the owner’s slaves are the prophets, the son is Jesus, and the tenants are the very same religious leaders Jesus was arguing with.
Jesus was saying to religious leaders that God the Father placed His people into your care, but you didn’t do a good job of it, so God the Father sent his prophets to correct you and show you your errors. And it wasn’t just one prophet, but many, the last being John the Baptist. Yet, in every case, you failed to listen, so Jesus said, the Father has sent Me, His Son, and… well, we all know what you’re planning for me, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”
In the midst of saying all this, Jesus made the comment regarding the cornerstone, which is the explanation as to how they had gotten it all wrong:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?”
The cornerstone “is the first stone that is set in the construction of the foundation and all other stones are set in reference to this stone. This stone determines the position of the entire structure,” but you religious leaders rejected it. You built something, yes, but what you built will not last. It was flawed from the very beginning; therefore, it will be given to others who will rebuild. Not only will these others use quality materials, but they will also use the cornerstone; they will use God—Jesus—as their point of reference for all they do.
What was rebuilt is the Church. St. Paul teaches us in his letter to the Ephesians, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)
In this dwelling place of God, you, each of you can be considered a stone, cut by the master stone mason, and on you, he has carved his banker’s mark, “For you were bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20a) The price being the Blood of Christ. And it is the Holy Spirit of God binding us together (cf. Ephesians 4:3) into this dwelling place of God, His one holy catholic and apostolic Church. Not a building of stone and mortar but one of flesh and blood. Not a building that will crumble and fall after a few years, but one that will last for all eternity.
Today, I ask you to remember that as a part of God’s Church, you are a part of something much larger than yourself. You are a part of something that expands across the earth and time. And not only does it grow outward, but also upward to join with those that have gone before us, those who will come after us, and with the very Throne Room of God. Because we are a part of it, it is far from perfect, but it is the Place where God has chosen to make Himself known, and you, each of you, are His ambassadors.
Let us pray: Everliving God, Whose will it is that all should come to You through Your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to Him, that all may know the power of His forgiveness and the hope of His resurrection; Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Candle in a Cave 