From Archbishop Donoghue

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of the many blessings enjoyed by those who live here in Jasper, and in surrounding Pickens County, is the privilege of looking up from almost any point, and seeing beautiful landscapes and vistas. And perhaps the most beautiful of all sights, as many of you well know, is to look eastward, on a clear, cool morning, and in the distance, see the sun rise over the majestic and serene foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountain chain.

And I am sure, that all of you who have had this experience, whether you are nine or ninety years old - I am sure you understand full well, the emotion and the awe, captured in the words of the Prophet Ezekiel, words heard in our first reading:

I fell prone as the glory of the LORD entered the temple by way of the gate which faces the east, but the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court. And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD.

Many of you have been here in this county for generations, and would think of going nowhere else - and you know in your hearts, how much this Òglory of the Lord,Ó seen in your wonderful countryside, accounts for the deep and unbreakable bond you feel with this land, your home. And many of you have come here looking for that same depth of experience - fleeing from neighborhoods stifled in the mundane sameness of suburbia, to lay down new roots, here, among the hills and mountains, where life is still good, where the air is sweet, the water clear, and the majesty of nature present in all its parts - flowers, trees, the animal kingdom, and man living in harmony with all.

Ezekiel, when he had this vision of the glory of the Lord, was dreaming of such a place for his people as well. I say dreaming, because his beautiful vision did not come out of the reality of his surroundings. When he had this vision, Ezekiel was thousands of miles from his home in Jerusalem - a captive and exile, suffering in slavery under the Babylonians, and serving as a voice of hope and consolation for His people Israel. And yet, in the midst of his sadness and the desolation of his people, Ezekiel could still lift his heart and his voice, and sing of the times to come, the times of the new Israel, and the day when the Lord's temple would be rebuilt, and the LordÕs people be once again in their home, to give Him glory, and to make offerings in thanksgiving.

What Ezekiel could not know then, was how the new Israel would come to be - not in a specific city, not in a building built of stone and adorned with the most precious of metals and jewels. The new Israel would come to life in the heart of Jesus Christ - and His people would never know exile, for they would inherit the earth, and their temple would be where their lives found them - for in Christ, God is not confined, but given, and present wherever His people dwell, and wherever His Church rises up.

Jesus said to the woman at the well:

Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in JerusalemÉ the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.

Dear friends, the Father has found such people to worship Him - the Father has found such people to dwell in the Presence of His Son Jesus Christ, and to live within the power of His Holy Spirit - and He has found them here, in Jasper, and in Pickens County of Georgia, where His glory is seen so clearly, in the sun rising over the mountains, and in the light which rises from the heart of you good people.

And because wherever His people dwell, they desire to build a house for their God - and because as Catholics we truly believe that the Lord is truly present, and needs a shelter, and a place where we may gather in His presence - because of these needs, these desires of our human hearts, we have built a place for the Lord to dwell, and we have called it for the beauty of two sublime entities - the mountains, where the unspoiled majesty of God ca be seen, and for our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, in whom the love of God for mankind is eternally felt and known.

Our Lady of the Mountains - this is the home we have prepared, and upon which that beautiful light, the glory of God which rises from above the mountains, will shine, for us, and for our children, and for generations yet to come.

God loves us in the glory with which He fills creation, and it is seen in all the talents and arts and skills which brought this new church into being - from its conception, through its planning, through the funding and then the building process - and now, it comes to a worthy conclusion, and a worthy beginning in this Rite of Dedication. The church is our gift, but it is also God's gift to us. And because it is a place where God meets us, and will continue to meet us - because it is a place where Heaven descends into the world of earth - because it is a place that houses the mystery of the Incarnation, the mystery of how God lived for us, and died for our sake - because of all this expression of His love for us, and the return or our own love to Him, we now bless and consecrate every part of this building where we will worship Him, and in His Presence, love one another. Its doors and walls, its windows and floors, the very light that enters in, the very air of its inner space Ð all these we bless, we wash with the holy water of our Faith, we anoint with the oil of royalty and consecration - and on the clouds of fragrant incense we burn, we offer it all to God, as it rises to Him on the wings of our prayer. And we call upon all the saints, those who have lived and died in and for the Faith, to be with us in spirit, and to witness what we do - for the Church is not just us, not just this time and place, but every place, and every time, where and when the Spirit of God dwells, and where and when, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, redeems those who call upon His Name.

We worship God in spirit, by calling upon those who have transcended time to be with us - and we worship Him in truth, by giving Him this temple, this church, the work of our hands and hearts - and from our hands and hearts, this church cannot be separated. Thus we fulfill, the command of Christ in the Gospel:

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

And we acknowledge what St. Paul declares:

For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.

Dear friends, we began by calling up Ezekiel's vision of the glory of God, coming out of the East, and filling the heavens and the earth with the light of hope and truth. And we will finish these holy rites as the sun begins to set in the West. But this is not a sign of our passing - this is not a sign that God's light or His truth in any way dies and passes from view. Rather, it is a sign that our work, in this instance, has been done, and that from the labors of building a new church, our rest has arrived. And with the setting of the sun, and the coming of night, also comes the time of our peace.

But the sun will rise tomorrow, and though this work is done, a new work will begin, a new work for us, and we will be ready. For the Lord is in this place, and we are His people, waiting to do His will. And we cry out to God, with the words of the holy Psalm:

From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised! Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth, and for evermore!

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