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Holy Thursday of the Supper of the Lord
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Building God’s kingdom: a homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter

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Deacon Greg Kandra - published on 04/28/12

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‘The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.’

Peter – “The Rock” – knows what he is talking about.

The fact is, Christianity wasn’t just something in the air, passed on like a microbe. No, the belief in Christ Jesus was something that was built.

Stone by stone. Person by person.

And it is still being built, by us, every day. We are the living stones of the faith.

Think of what these stones can be — and you get a clearer picture of what it means to call ourselves Christians.

We are a floor when the ground is shifting, and a roof when the rain is falling.

We are a wall to hold back the wind. We are a hearth to provide warmth.

We are shelter. We are solidarity. We are home.

We are part of a great work whose construction is never-ending. And we are adding to it every day.

And the building goes on — not just here, but around the world. It is breathtaking to realize what has been built from that one rejected cornerstone: the millions, if not billions, of lives that have been shaped, uplifted, and redeemed.

Stone by stone. Person by person.

Each of us is a part of that. And at our very best, we are more than just walls of this great building of faith.

We are doors. And we are windows.

We are the gateways through which others discover the Christ who was celebrated by Peter, and illuminated in the letter from St. John: “See what love the Father has bestowed on us, that we may be called the children of God.”

What will we make from that love?

What will we help to build?

How will we add to the greatest construction project in human history?

It would be nice if it could just be passed on—like the flu. But keeping the faith alive requires hard work for it to spread, and grow. Sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty. But I think we can all agree: it’s worth it.

The cornerstone has been set. The walls have gone up.

But it’s far from finished.

There is more great work waiting to be done.”

From the homily for 4th Sunday of Easter, 2009

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