Anniversary of the Dedication of the Abbatial Church
Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau
Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault
Fontgombault, October 12, 2019
Hodie in domo tua.
Today in thy house.
(Lk 19:5)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
My dearly beloved Sons,
Today’s Mass exhibits a great scriptural richness. The readings and the sung pieces run through the Bible from its very first book, Genesis, to the last one, the Apocalypse, centred around a same theme, God’s dwelling with men. Such is indeed the place in which we are, and the consecration of which we celebrate, a dwelling of God with men.
The opening chant is taken from the book of Genesis: “How awesome is this place. This is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.” (Gn 28:17) Jacob uttered these words after he saw in a dream a ladder set up between earth and heaven, on which angels were ascending and descending. God then gave him as his inheritance this place, which Jacob called Bethel, House of God; there he set up a stone for a pillar, a memorial for this encounter. In the lesson, the vision of the Apocalypse brings us into the heavenly Jerusalem, this place which we yearn for. This is at the end of time the new abode of God with men. God is dwelling in their midst. The Gospel takes us into the house of Zacchaeus, the place of a conversion. This tax-collector in the pay of the Romans had taken a certain advantage of his position to get rich. Jesus comes and visits him, thus bringing salvation to his house. Last, the offertory describes the episode of the building of the first Temple of Jerusalem. David had collected all its elements, but the construction was Solomon’s responsibility. At the end of the work, God took possession of the house. This text fits nicely in the liturgy at this moment, and it evokes the qualities of heart expected from those who wish to offer something to God, joy and simplicity.
All these texts depict various houses, either built by God or by man, offered to God so that He may dwell in them. For that matter, may each true abode, each house of truth, joy, and peace, be anything else than a place in which God is dwelling?
The feast of the Dedication makes us look beyond the houses of the world in which we are living. The words “a common European house” are sometimes used, without much success for that matter, to stir up interest for an administrative and economical Leviathan in the pay of global finance. There are also the nations, inheritors of their history and geography, the regions, cities and villages. Last, there is the house, the abode, the place where a family is gathered. The earth and the universe, created by God, are also abodes.
