My dear friends, we are celebrating this weekend the 100^th anniversary of the dedication of this cathedral building. For a century this building has been an impressive and beautiful sign of the presence of the community of faith that is the Roman Catholic Church in the city of Regina and throughout the area of southern Saskatchewan that makes up our Archdiocese.

My dear friends, we are celebrating this weekend the 100^th anniversary of the dedication of this cathedral building. For a century this building has been an impressive and beautiful sign of the presence of the community of faith that is the Roman Catholic Church in the city of Regina and throughout the area of southern Saskatchewan that makes up our Archdiocese.

This building has been a constant public reminder that the Good News of Jesus Christ is proclaimed to all who will listen to it. This Good News promises people light in their darkness, hope in times of fear and despair, strength when the weight of life becomes heavy and the joy of knowing God is continually with us every day of our lives.

A church building takes its name from those who gather in it; from us, we who are the Church, the People of God. A cathedral church is unique in every diocese. It takes its name from the Cathedra, the chair in which the bishop sits when he presides over the prayer of the Church. It is a symbol of the Kingship of Jesus Christ which is made present in the priesthood of the bishop. This Kingship of Jesus guides us, teaches us, protects us and nourishes us. The Cathedra is the chair of the Shepherd who keeps us together as one people with one faith in our one Lord.

So in a very real sense, the Cathedral building is a reminder to us of the family of which we are a part. The Catholic faith is not only a collection of beliefs and practices. The Catholic faith is the way a community of people lives their lives.

The church is a community of people which stretches from the past through our present and into eternity. Over this past hundred years tens of thousands of people have come through these doors, bringing with them the content of their lives to place before God in prayer.

People have come here to celebrate joyful events and to give thanks to God for the good things with which they have been blessed. People have come through these doors bearing heavy burdens of loss, burdens of fears and worries seeking comfort and strength. They have offered prayers rising from their hearts asking God’s guidance, protection, salvation. They have come through these doors seeking guidance and strength to live as followers of Jesus Christ.

They have come through these doors knowing that it is not as isolated and individual people that we journey towards heaven. Rather it is as a family, as a community, as indeed the body of Christ himself, that we encounter Jesus and are saved. It is the Church that is saved and we are part of that Church.

When this Cathedral Church was dedicated a century ago, the people who gathered heard a prayer reminding them that this community to which we belong was born in the one font of baptism. Our community of faith is sustained and nourished at the one table of the Lord. And through the power of the Sacraments which our Risen Lord gives to His Church, we become the one temple of God, the Holy Spirit, as we gather around His altar in love.

When we gather on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, we spend time listening as Christ speaks to us in the Gospel. He tells us how we are to live as his followers in our world. Today’s Gospel with Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is well known and it is very timely for us. We are living in a very prosperous time in our province. We live in a very prosperous country. We are wealthy in the eyes of many people in the world. They envy us for what we have and how little we are forced to do without.

At the very beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Francis was talking about why he had chosen the name “Francis” as his papal name. He said that St Francis was a man “who wanted a poor church”. Then he went on to say”Ah, how I would like a church that is poor and is for the poor.”These words are very helpful to us as we hear the story of Lazarus.

Indeed, the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man could very well be unsettling for us. It is an emotional and moving story. Lazarus is the emblem of very poor people. He is weak from hunger, perhaps too sick to move about and he has been reduced to begging near a rich man’s ornate front door. He lies there and the dogs are licking the sores on his body. One commentator on this story says, that scene“of Lazarus, prostrate, licked by dogs, all the while yearning for crumbs from the sumptuous table of the rich man as if he were himself a dog – is one of palpable anguish.”(“Luke” by David  L  Jeffrey)

We often meet beggars. Sometimes they are young people at stop lights, often with a dog, going from car to car begging for change. Sometimes people of all ages obviously ravaged by addictions, sitting on the sidewalks with a can beside them looking for change, looking for crumbs. Most of the time we ignore them, walk by them looking somewhere else so we don’t have to see them.

The rich man ignored Lazarus and gave him not even a crumb. When they both died, the rich man found himself in Lazarus’ position and Lazarus in his. In the words of Mary’s Magnificat, the rich man, had been “sent empty away.” In life, he had a fine, comfortable home. Now he would never be “at home” again. Lazarus, who had been homeless, now is at home forever with a sense of comfort and completion.

There is much that can be said about this parable. I will only underline today that in this story of Jesus we see God’s total solidarity with the very poor. God enters into the plight of Lazarus in his poverty.  We who are the Church must be a part of that solidarity of God with the very poor.

Recently Pope Francis visited the Italian town of Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. There unemployment is nearing 20 per cent, with youth unemployment at 50 per cent. There is much poverty and despair there. The Pope had prepared a talk for them, but when he saw them all in front of him, he set the prepared speech aside and spoke from his heart to them.

I will share with you one paragraph of what he said:However, I must say to you: “Courage!” Nevertheless I am also aware that for own my part I must do everything to ensure that this term “courage” is not just a nice word spoken in passing! I do not want it to be merely the smile of a courteous employee, a Church employee who comes and says “be brave!” No! I don’t want this! I want courage to come from within me and to impel me to do everything as a pastor, as a man for you. We must all face this challenge with solidarity, among you — also among us — we must all face with solidarity and intelligence this historic struggle.”

 I believe that, in these words, Pope Francis gives to the whole church the way we must deal with Lazarus as we find him in our lives from day to day. We must find within us the courage to impel us to do everything we can as a human being, to become a part of this solidarity that God had with Lazarus and which Pope Francis prayed to have with the unemployed people of Cagliari. Through the Word of God, we are called to have this solidarity with the poor people of our parish and of our city and of our diocese. Then, in this beautiful and historic Cathedral we will truly become the Temple of God the Holy Spirit and the living and active Body of Jesus Christ in our city now and for the years to come.