"The Church: A Center of Hope" The Church through the Vision of Bishop Paul J. Bradley

Loving God of life, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, deepen, strengthen and enliven our relationship of faith in You, the Rock of our salvation. May we, the living stones (1 Peter 2:5) of the household of faith, continue to be built up into a strong, spiritual structure, able to withstand the many challenges to our faith and willing to give courageous and joyful witness to our hope in, and love for, You. For we are one with You, Father, in the Church, and one with all humanity in the world, through Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life, in the unity of the life-giving Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen

Pastoral Letters This particular letter is an invitation to strengthen the local church He speaks of "how we can live our faith with joy, while remaining anchored in our faith in Christ our hope."

Part Two... - He points out the challenges in the world, we are "witnessing a renewal of faith in Jesus Christ, lived joyfully and vibrantly in the Church..."

The Church is the people, but... It struck me that, although it does not define "the Church," that perhaps we should look at the Church in terms of its origins since the time of Jesus and his resurrection.

Tenebrae - So, next week we will begin at 6:00 PM and reflect on the Bishop's vision of where we go as a church. However, we will end at 6:45 PM to lead us into the liturgical celebration of Tenebrae.

Tenebrae The word tenebrae is Latin for shadows. The purpose of the Tenebrae service is to recreate the emotional aspects of the passion story, so this is not supposed to be a happy service, because the occasion is not happy.

Tenebrae There are readings, plus a white Christ candle. The readers go up one at a time, read their assigned selections, and extinguish one of the candles, until only the Christ candle remains. Then someone reads the first part of Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted on the cross.

Tenebrae Then the Christ candle is put out, leaving the congregation in near total darkness and near total devastation. At this point, the service ends. There is no benediction and the people leave in silence. (The lights are turned up but remain dim so that people can see their way out.)

"You are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church."

Caligula's Circus (Nero's Circus A.D. 40)

Caligula's Circus (Nero's Circus)

City of the Dead...

Coemeterium-land of sleeping man

The Burning of Rome - 64 AD

Nero blames Peter and the Christians

Peter is Crucified 67 A.D.

Looking upon the obelisk; buried outside

Fast Forward... The Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 313. (His mother, Helena, helped!) And to honor the Christians, he wished to build a basilica over Peter's Tomb.

Problem... By then the Circus was gone, but how could the basilica be built with the necropolis in the way?

Problem... Solved.

The first basilica over the tomb of Peter?

Time has its toll... Steady decline (wear and tear) as well as treasures stolen by various raids. But, this continued until 1309...

A new beginning... It took until 1506, (nothing goes fast in Rome), Pope Julius II laid the cornerstone for the "new" Saint Peter's.

A new beginning... Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini, Maderno

A new beginning... On November 18, 1626... The "new" Saint Peter's Basilica was consecrated... 1,300 years after the first consecration and 120 years of building. And it's not done yet.

Saint Peter's Square... Built by Bernini, 1657-1667 Can hold up to 350,000 people; 60,000 in the square alone.

The Colonnade... 284 columns; 4 deep 140 Statues above the colonnade... 10 and a half feet tall.

Back to the obelisk... For pagans, they were built as a way to communicate with the divine This one was built in 1835 B.C., and one piece of granite! 13 stories tall It was even taller but it broke in two

A new location... "In 1586, Pope Sixtus V had it moved to the center of Saint Peter's Square It took four months, 900 men, 140 horses, and 44 winches... To move it 900 feet How did they raise it up?

The Symbolism... Contains a fragment of the True Cross Demonstrates how Christianity has conquered all.

Nothing is by accident... Fountains Mother of the Church image Images across the front of Christ, John the Baptist, and 11 apostles Massive Statues of Peter and Paul

Back to Peter... Was Saint Peter really buried under the basilica? Has it ever been proven?

The Dome...

Is Peter there? For 1,700 years, tradition taught that Saint Peter was buried under the high altar (which was built over Constantine's altar, which was believed to be over Peter's tomb.

Is Peter there?

The Search... By accident In 1939, workers were building a tomb for Pope Pius XI. (One of about 100 now) They came upon the graves of the old basilica. They pierced through the roof of the second century necropolis

Finding Christian Symbols... Shepherds, fishermen, anchor, vine

Peter... The excavation under the main altar, and under the altar of Constantine, there was a monument around a red plastered wall, dated to the second century.

Peter... There were Christian symbols and prayers scratched into the stone. One "scratch" was in Greek and Latin...

Found... PETER IS HERE

More Evidence... So they dug a little deeper. They found a small chamber which they believed to be the grave of Saint Peter. The grave was protected by the red plastered wall. Inside was found offerings of coins... Dating to the First Century.

More Evidence... There were graves clustered tightly near that tomb. Bones were found.

More Evidence... They came from a single individual. A man between 60 and 70 years old. The ankle bones and feet were missing. The bones had been wrapped in red and fastened with a gold cord.

The location of the bones...

Peter to Francis in unbroken link to Christ

BREAK TIME