Thinking Anew:INSCRIBED ON the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren in St Paul's cathedral, London, are the words Lector, Si monumentum requiris circumspice(Reader: If you seek his memorial, look around you), acknowledgement of the fact that he was the architect of that fine landmark building set apart for the worship of God when it was consecrated in 1708. And just a week ago Pope Benedict was in Barcelona to consecrate another fine building - the Sagrada Família basilica, which was begun more than a hundred years ago and has yet to be completed.
There is something special about these great cathedrals and churches. They are links with the past, representing continuity and, perhaps in some minds, even permanence. In tomorrow's Gospel we read that people living in Our Lord's time valued wonderful religious buildings too. "Some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God."
One can only imagine then how shocked and angry they must have been when Jesus told them that "the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down". He went on to talk of uncertain times ahead, of wars and earthquakes; plagues and persecution and much else - things that we would dread and rather not contemplate.
The American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, however, saw possibilities in adversity. He observed that some of the most profound religious developments have come in times of national and international crisis. He pointed out that, throughout the Old Testament, the prophets came to the fore at times when Israel was on the verge of collapse; that Christianity took root when Greco-Roman culture was in decline; that St Augustine redefined Christianity as the Roman Empire was collapsing; and that the Protestant Reformation took root at a time of great unrest in Europe. It seems that in much the same way today the church is being renewed and reshaped by events outside its control - and it is not a comfortable experience for many.
But the Gospel reading encourages us not to lose our nerve in times of difficulty, for the Christian religion holds that our existence never ceases to have meaning, even when chaos appears to reign. Our faith is centred, not on any human institution or structure or achievement but on the will and purposes of God, which will prevail despite our frailty that so often appears to frustrate them.
Niebuhr, who was writing in the mid-20th century, offered this analysis which has particular relevance for the church today: "So great is the power of human pride that even within the terms of the Christian faith man places his essential trust not in the ultimate character of God but in some achievement of the human spirit. The temptation to do this is particularly great when these achievements are specially imposing; when the edifices of human genius have achieved a stability which seems to suggest their indestructibility. Hence periods of prosperity inevitably lead to a corruption of the Christian faith while periods of adversity prompt men to probe more deeply into the nature and meaning of life."
It is one thing to look around St Paul's cathedral or the Sagrada Família and marvel at the work of the great men who designed and built them but it is even more important to see beyond their achievements the eternal God who gives all things meaning. As a church report reminds us, "That in which we put our trust is essentially the constancy and reliability of God. His faithfulness consists in his unbreakable commitment to his people and, as the Scriptures indicate, to his whole creation. He will never turn back from the love which binds him to the world and which remains his way with the world to the end of time. It is a way that embraces the 'changes and chances' in all their arbitrary freedom, with the 'eternal changelessness' of a love that bears, believes, hopes and endures all things". - GL