HOLY MASS OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA
Zakopane Poland - 7 June 1997
1. Today on the liturgical memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we gather in Krzeptówki, in this parish church, in order to bless it, that is, to consecrate it. It is not enough for a church merely to be built; it needs to be dedicated, by a liturgical act, to the Most High. I give thanks to God for being able to consecrate your church today. I have been warmly invited to do so, and on several occasions. I thank Divine Providence that I am able to come among you today and accept your invitation. I greet you with a father's love. I greet all who live in Skalne Podhale.
What does it mean to dedicate or consecrate a Church? The best answer to this question is provided by the liturgical readings. The first reading, taken from the book of the Prophet Nehemiah, recalls the well-known event in the Old Testament when the Israelites, after returning from slavery in Babylon, set about rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. First built in the time of the great kings, it had shared in the Chosen People's periods of splendour and decadence; it had witnessed the deportation and enslavement of the sons and daughters of Israel; afterwards it had been destroyed and now needed to be rebuilt. The Chosen People experienced this moment intensely. With cries of lamentation they began the great work. And behold, their sadness was turned into joy (cf. Neh 8:2-11).
Against the background of this description we can understand even better the words of the second reading, taken from the First Letter of Saint Peter, and the words of the Gospel which has just been proclaimed. "On you I will build my Church", Christ says to Peter, when the Apostle confesses his faith in the Son of God. "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:17-18).
The Church is not only a sacred building. The Lord Jesus says that the Church is built on rock, and the rock is the faith of Peter. The Church is a community of believers who profess their faith in the living God and bear witness - like Peter - to the fact that Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. You, dear brothers and sisters, are a small part of this great community of the Church built on the faith of Peter. Together with your Bishop, together with the Pope, you proclaim and profess faith in the Son of God and on this faith you base your whole personal, family and professional life. In this way you share in the Kingdom of Heaven. For Christ said to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt 16:19).
This shrine of yours, which today is being consecrated to God, must serve the Church - the community, living men and women. This is even more profoundly expressed in the passage from the Letter of Peter which we have heard. In it the Apostle speaks of the Church as a house built of living stones. We ourselves are this house, we ourselves are these living stones which make up the whole spiritual temple. Its cornerstone is Christ: Christ Crucified and Risen. He himself became the cornerstone of the Church, as the great community of the People of God in the New Covenant. That community, as the Apostle Peter writes, is a holy priesthood (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). United to Christ, it is "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people whom God has made his own, to declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light" (cf. 1 Pet 2:9). Your beautiful church, which you have built along with your pastors, is to serve the community of the Church, and therefore needs to be blessed, consecrated, devoted to God himself, as a space in which the People of God gather and pray. Not only God's People in Krzeptówki and Zakopane, but also those who come here from different places in Poland for a restful stay in the mountains. To all the tourists and summer residents I offer good wishes that your closer contact with nature will lead you to an encounter with God in prayer.
