Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple 2022

Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to the Father, and

to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. I greet you

with joy on this feast day. Perhaps you caught

it last night and this morning. This main hymn,

the Traparian, tells us that today, this day,

is the prelude. You know what a prelude is? It's

the piece of music that comes before the opera

of the show. The prelude of the goodwill of God,

of the preaching of the salvation of mankind.

Salvation is central. Otherwise, what are we

doing here? And it says, the virgin appears in

the temple of God in anticipation. proclaiming

Christ to all. So we're contemplating how salvation

comes to mankind from God in this prelude of

this anticipation of the Virgin in the temple.

And salvation is the release from death, isn't

it? From all that fear and violence and hatred

and greed and anxiety and grief, so much grief.

Our loving God works all things for us carefully,

even day by day, throughout the centuries, carefully,

just as he cared for every aspect of the ark

and the building of the tent of testimony and

the temple itself. Nothing was left to chance.

Every type of wood was chosen by the Lord according

to the vision God instructed Moses when he was

on the mountain of Sinai and he beheld the mystical

temple. Our God is working all things for us

to release us from the slavery of sin which so

easily besets us, grabs a hold of us, compels

us. And we're contemplating today also why the

virgin child, a three -year -old, is part of

this amazing story. And she enters into the temple

of Jerusalem and runs up the 15 steps, never

looking back at her parents, and is prepared

there by God to be, just as she is in that place,

the holy of holies itself. Dwelling there, incredibly.

Strangely. And there was no ark there. There

was no tablets. There was no rod that budded.

There was no glory of God. The Holy of Holies

was absolutely empty. Totally empty. All this

is very strange. But God does things in a way.

Often that we don't like, that we would prefer

he did things another way, took it another direction,

solved things more quickly according to our vision

of things. But God does things in a way, as I

said, like he instructed Moses according to the

vision. I can't imagine that God would not take

the same care and he did. More, more care even

for his beloved Mary. who would give flesh to

the word of God, his eternal, his immortal son.

And I think of that original temple, and I contemplate

what that means just a little bit, how the glory

of God filled the house of the Lord. It was amazing.

It was dazzling, I'm sure. It was mystical. But

clearly, brothers and sisters, science and wonders

and miracles are not enough, not just to not

purify the soul, not to save us from sin, not

to overcome death. None of that will do it. And

when you read the Old Testament, it's absolutely

shocking. It's not a family book, some of it,

definitely. Solomon turned away from God, but

he's up there. I don't mean... Way up there,

maybe he is, but in the dome with a halo. So

he must have repented at the end. But his sons

turned away from God. They did evil in the sight

of God. Terrible idolatry, terrible sexual immorality,

abuse of the poor, and wars, civil wars that

followed, violence. The glory of God and the

temple of the Lord, smoke, incense. was not enough

to save anyone. It was a placeholder. It was

for something to come. Not enough, because that

temple, those temples, because there was more

than one, was just the sign, a foreshadowing

of something better to come. The making, if I

could use that word, the making of the temple,

of the womb of the virgin who learned in the

temple by being there what a temple should be.

That's why we spend so much time in church surrounded

by our beloved saints and the miracles and the

grace of God. She would become, her womb would

become the temple of him who said, destroy this

temple and I will raise it up in three days.

Our loving God who seeks peace and salvation

for us in our life. does things very quietly,

very unexpectedly. As I said, we're awfully disappointed

with his methods, and we often don't give thanks

to God in our trials, by which he's leading us

to our salvation. We want our human quick resolutions.

Our Lord seems to prefer what's ordinary, not

flashy, not well -known, not mighty, for God

has chosen the weak things of this world. And

by that accomplishes a hidden mystery ordained

before the ages. So it's a three -year -old child.

Like this one right here. Imagine. Beautiful.

Not anyone notable in the world who would be

prepared. That person would be prepared, married,

and shaped by the temple. And so now she points

to the Savior. We have that icon called the Origitria.

the one who points the way. And the saints now

compose hymns for her, which give comfort to

us in all our times of suffering and difficulty

and confusions. Words like this, rejoice container

of the uncontainable God, rejoice door of the

solemn mystery, rejoice all glorious temple of

him who is above the seraphim. But God is not

just working for her. It's not just one person.

We too receive all this that the feast has to

offer us and are reminded, along with those first

century Christians in Corinth who received St.

Paul's stern letter, how surprising, how shocking

it must have been, very unsettling. The vision

of the temple where sacrifices were made, where

forgiveness was offered, where offerings were

made for thanksgiving, and the whole center of

the life of Israel. It was shocking when St.

Paul writes, Know ye not that ye are the temple

of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in

you? And he warns them, and he warns us. If anyone

defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy.

For the temple of God is holy, which temple you

are. It's shocking. This is what we carry. This

is our ministry in this world. To be a place

of peace and holiness. Not division, but unity.

Can we not struggle a little more, brothers and

sisters, as we live our lives? We all have responsibilities

and cares and worries, but can we not struggle

to find that holy of holies to be drawn into

it in our own heart? Because this feast is also

the feast of the silence of the Virgin. Bishop

Callas does wear marks that somewhere. And so

we need that silence, too, to meet the Lord so

we will be cleansed. We hear that wonderful psalm,

and I take it seriously, and let us take it all

seriously. I will not give sleep to my eyes,

nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place

for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God

of Jacob. This is a personal quest. This is our

personal destiny. This is the direction we must

take as Christians to find a place for the Lord

within, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

We are nothing for God has chosen the weak of

the world, not the mighty, not the noble. This

is a feast now in this time of Advent when we

are looking, yes, at December 25th, this beautiful

fresco here, the nativity, it leads us. Because

today's the prelude of that. But we look past

that. When Christ, who is our life, we will hear

the week before Christmas, the epistle. When

Christ, who is our life, that means that we have

found a place for the mighty God of Jacob within.

When Christ, who is our life, appears, then we

shall also appear with him in glory. This is

the vision that we have, Christians. This is

the vision. No matter how much suffering or difficulty

or grief and death there is, this is what the

Lord has for us. Someone wrote, I can't recall

because I just saved a little clip and I put

it in my notes, something I really loved. He

wrote this. Today we hope for something very

simple. Today on this feast of our Holy Lady,

she will take me by my hand. And tell me that

she has longed for this day when I would join

her there in the temple and dance in God's presence,

happy that she is there and that her womb will

make him our Lord, a gift for all, salvation

of the world. I was glad when they said to me,

let us go to the house of the Lord. O Lord, I've

loved... the beauty of thy house and the place

where thy glory dwells. To our Lady be glory

and honor with her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,

now and ever, to ages of ages. Amen.