The House of God, and True Worship

15th Sunday, Year C/ Church Dedication of St. Anthony Church, Zuma. Homily by +I. A. Kaigama, Archbishop of Abuja.

Readings: Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6. 8-10; 1 Corinthians 10:16-21; John 4:19-24

Theme: The House of God, and True Worship

Today, with great joy, I am happy to come and celebrate with you Fr Barnabas Shabanya, and the good people of St. Anthony, Zuma, on this great day of your church dedication, and the conferment of the sacrament of confirmation to 165 of your church members. At the end of this year’s priestly annual Archdiocesan retreat, I bring you the greetings and blessings of over 170 priests and we the Bishops. We prayed for the Archdiocese, for you and our country and for our individual needs in these hard times. May God answer our prayers.

We thank God Almighty for granting you the resources to build up a place of worship here; we thank all of you the parishioners who were and are still actively involved in the project and other church matters. May God bless you all.

King Solomon, having built the temple, stood before the people and prayed: “Will God indeed dwell on earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” Yet God did come and dwell among His people in the temple. So God also dwells in your Church of St. Anthony. As the psalmist says, “I rejoiced when I heard them say, let us go to the house of the Lord” (Ps 122:1). Today, we too rejoice, because this house has now become a visible sign of God’s presence in Zuma. What We dedicate today Is not just a building, but a sacred space.

So, today, this church, though built by human hands, is now dedicated, set aside, specifically for sacred worship. The altar we will anoint, the walls we will incense, and the Eucharist we will celebrate, all remind us that God is present here – truly, really, and sacramentally. This is not just a hall or a community centre. This is the house of God, a sacred space. Let us not make the church a place of politics, fighting for one position or the other.

Let us not forget, that while we dedicate a physical church today, God desires to also build a spiritual church from living stones – that is, from each one of us. Each time we dedicate a church, it is also a moment to rededicate ourselves, a moment of renewal. As St. Paul reminds us, “You are God’s building… Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:9,16). The beauty of this new church must lead us to examine the state of our hearts. Are we temples of the Holy Spirit? Are our hearts fit place for God to dwell? Where God dwells, there is love, peace, and unity.

Worship is not merely about location. It is about the disposition of the heart. To worship “in spirit and truth” means to offer God a worship that is alive with the Holy Spirit and rooted in the truth of who He is, a worship that flows from faith and love rather than mere ritual or obligation. This tells us that just coming to church alone is not enough. You can be coming to church every day, belong to all the societies in the church, and yet not have a personal relationship with God. There is a difference between coming to church for obligation’s sake and coming to church to commune and have a relationship with God.

This church, now dedicated, is meant to unite us more than ever before. St. Paul admonishes us in today’s second reading, “Brethren; The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:16-17).

If St. Anthony, your patron saint were to speak to us today, perhaps he would remind us that this new church must not only be a mere place of worship, but also a place of outreach, where the poor find comfort, the lost find guidance, and the broken find healing. In our society today, marked by insecurity, poverty, corruption, and the erosion of values, the Church must stand as a beacon of hope.

St. Anthony’s Church, Zuma, must now become a spiritual lighthouse – not just a building, but a witnessing community. A place where God is truly worshipped, where peace is preached, where justice is defended, and where love is lived. For the candidates for confirmation, 165 of you, you must shine the light of Christ to the ends of the earth and be agents spreading God’s love and hope to our troubled world.

The three Readings today are intended to show us under very different aspects the meaning of a sacred building as a house of God and a house of men and women.

In our first reading, the people stood up as the Law was opened as a sign of respect and attentiveness. They lifted their hands and bowed their heads as gestures of praise and humility. They shouted Amen, Amen; a resounding affirmation of their faith. This is the spirit that we are called to bring into this church. The act of reverence is gradually dying in our church today. People come into the church and they show no sign of reverence whatsoever. As Catholics, we are known for showing reverence whenever we come into the church. Let us revive that culture and teach our children the basics of reverence. Teach them to know when to genuflect, bow, and kneel. Our postures and words should reflect the faith that dwells within us, a faith that finds its home in this sacred building.

The gospel presents us with knowledge about worship. Our last general assembly had as its theme, “Deepening our Catholic identity and spirituality.” Some Catholics don’t see the church as a place of encounter with God but continue to wander around seeking non-Catholic worship because of their psychedelic nature of worship. The concept of biblical worship encompasses the “spirit” a person’s “state of mind” apart from any physical, outward connection, and the “truth” a person’s active relationship with God.

I look forward to dedicating more churches in Abuja Archdiocese especially those in the 66 pastoral areas created a few years ago. We commend those who out of their personal resources are helping either to build a church, a father’s house, or to help purchase land which you know is very expensive in Abuja. We thank them sincerely. We look forward to more generous donors to advance the kingdom of God.

May our Mother Mary continue to intercede for us and our nation, to open our ears to listen to the word of God, and to bring an end to corruption, hatred, and violence. It is not enough for Nigerians to claim that we are religious, we must show that we are religious in the true, positive, and edifying senses, and in conduct and in character. Amen.