Two men went into an apple orchard with prospects of purchasing it. The first was worldly wise and began to count the number of trees and how many apples each tree bore, figuring what might be the approximate yield of the orchard.

The second man entered the orchard and simply sat beneath the shade of an old apple tree, plucking off a piece of fruit and eating it ....Delicious. Now who was the wiser, the man counting leaves and making calculations or the man who satisfied his curiosity and hunger by savoring the fruit?

Perhaps this is an example of what Jesus refers to in the gospel about worldly imitative and wisdom.

About 12 years after end of the Christian persecutions on November 9, 324 Pope Sylvester I consecrated the Basilica of St. John the Baptist on land donated by the Laterani family. Before the building of the new St. Peter's and the Vatican residence in the 16th century, the Lateran was the residence and seat (cathedra) for the Popes. It was also the home for five Ecumenical Councils.

Over the East entrance is inscribed these words: Omnium eclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput-- Mother and Head of All Churches in the city and throughout the world.

Celebrating the dedication of this Church or any church for that matter (and there are a couple more this month) fits in well with the eschatological theme of the month. The procession of the saints and the progression of the souls, all leading to the sanctuary and to the throne of God and the Lamb, Jesus Christ the King. The early Christians built their churches and Cathedrals with this vision. The tabernacle was enthroned at the High Altar, at the pinnacle of vision. The spires soared to the sky as far as they could reach in those days.

The story is often told in New York about the construction of the new (or present) St. Patrick's Cathedral. (The original still stands and serves as a parish church in China town in the lower section of Manhattan, in fact no too far from the site of the Twin Towers.)

When the archbishop decided to build a new cathedral and residence, he chose the block between 51st and 52nd streets on Fifth Avenue. At the time that was open prairie--farm land. Nobody lived there. He was ridiculed and thought to be crazy.

Walk around that block today. The spires of St. Patrick's are no longer the highest point in the sky. Rockefeller Center NBC, right across the street, towers over it, as do most of the businesses in the area. But it is the center--the hub of the city of the world's most visited city.

Today it's prime real estate. I doubt that anyone would dare estimate its worth. Was the Archbishop eating an apple or looking out his old residence a few blocks from Wall Street and speculating? Did the Archbishop have vision or a vision? Who knows? But the brick and the mortar and the majesty are not the most important thing.

The most important thing is where two or three or more are gathered in His Name, Jesus is there. He is the King. What we anticipate we are already participating in through liturgy. Our churches are the assemblies of the worshipping faithful, whether magnificent cathedrals or simple chapels even temporary ones. They are consecrated because we the worshippers are consecrated.

Jesus is the foundation stone as St. Paul says in his letter today. Incorporated into the foundation stone are the building blocks, you and I, clergy and laity, saints and sinners. And like any building made of stone, some are more durable than others. Visit SS. Peter and Paul in Providence and see what water has been diluting and polluting over the century. How many of those stones have to be replaced? It's almost like having to build a new church.

But we, as living stones, are not replaceable. We are not discardable. Whatever our condition, we are valued by God at the inestimable price of the blood of His Son. God doesn't have to speculate about how valuable each of us is.