ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

The hour has come, after great expectation and preparation, for us to dedicate the new Dome in this National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception—the Dome of the Redemption. It is a magnificent achievement made possible by the grace of God and the zeal and generosity of so many people, many present here, and others who have gone before us to take their place in the liturgy of heaven.

As God’s people we gather in the name of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and we gather to proclaim His name and the power of His Blood. For this we are convoked by God’s grace. From our place beneath this Dome we hear the words of a great hymn from the Church’s midmorning prayer: "From all that dwell below the skies, let the Creator’s praise arise: let the Redeemer’s name be sung...." Hence, we sing the Redeemer’s name beneath the Dome dedicated to His saving work. And we proclaim His love in the Church.

The Gospel this afternoon introduces us to this love, as we hear Jesus Himself tell us that He came down from heaven in order to be lifted up on a Cross so as to redeem us and draw us to Himself. In this context we hear Jesus Himself explain to us the meaning of Redemption: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

In our second reading Saint Paul tells us that, in order to accomplish this redemption, the Son of God emptied Himself, embraced our humanity, became obedient unto death, and triumphed on the Cross.

And because so much is in a name, God the Father bestowed on Jesus the name that is above every name—a name whose very meaning identifies Him as Savior and Redeemer of the world. And at the name of Jesus every knee must bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As we proclaim the name of the Redeemer, we see portrayed above us in the new Dome four great scenes that find their unity in testifying to the work of our Redeemer. The scene of the Temptation of Jesus witnesses to the humanity through which Jesus saved us, in which He endured our human condition and encouraged us by His own fidelity to the Father. What is so exhilarating is that the one who was tempted like us is able to show us mercy.

The second scene, that of the Crucifixion, represents the greatest act of love in the history of the world. For this reason the Church addresses Jesus in those sacred words of the Book of Revelation that surround the Dome: "...for you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation." This explains why in the Litany of the Most Precious Blood we invoke the Blood of Christ as "the price of our redemption," "our only claim to pardon," and "the torrent" of divine mercy.

Our third scene, the Descent of Jesus to the realm of the dead who were awaiting His coming, represents the early redemptive fruits of His saving Death, by which He liberated the souls of the just who longed for His presence. From that day of His descent among the dead till the end of time, the Church proclaims: "Let the Redeemer’s name be sung, through every land, by every tongue."

The fourth great image in the Dome’s mosaic depicts the triumph of Christ’s Resurrection. The profound meaning of the Resurrection is found in the completion of Christ’s redemptive work and in the Father’s total loving acceptance of the offering of His Son. As Jesus the Redeemer rises from the dead, the Father proclaims anew, in the communion of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased. This great act of the Father’s love for the Risen Jesus evokes in our hearts and minds those words with which Jesus tells us: "This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life..." (Jn 10:17). At the moment of His Resurrection, which is the culmination and consummation of all the redemptive work of Jesus, the Father and the Son embrace eternally in the communion of the Holy Spirit, and every tongue confesses to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Today as God’s grace and the zealous work of so many people enable us to bring to completion a project first envisioned by the original Iconography Committee during the years 1954-1958, the continuity of praise for the Redeemer goes on in the Church in the United States and finds eloquent expression in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Today as we praise the Redeemer and invoke an outpouring of the fruits of His Redemption on the people of our land and throughout the world, we also proclaim the full identity of this Redeemer as we pray: "Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man." Jesus, our Redeemer, is true God because He is divine like His Father in heaven. He is true man because He is human like His Mother and like us. This entire Shrine speaks to us of Mary and of her role as Mother of God, communicating humanity to the Word of God. And through this humanity Jesus redeems the world and faithfully fulfills the Father’s loving plan. Through this humanity received from Mary all mankind enters into redemptive solidarity with the Word made flesh.

Lazarus, Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene and Simon of Cyrene—all pictured in the Dome of the Redemption—are there because the humanity of Jesus links them to Himself and placed them among the early recipients of His Redemption.

Dear Friends: this is an hour of thanksgiving for the great gift of Christ’s Redemption and for its exquisite representation in our new mosaic Dome. But this is also an hour for faith—an hour for us to renew our holy Catholic faith in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world.

In His name—in the name of Jesus Christ—and through His Eucharistic Sacrifice which we now offer in this Shrine, we confidently approach the throne of grace, proclaiming: "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen."