"Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him..." (Revelation 3:20) A collection of my Sunday homilies for Holy Mass as well as some occasional talks and reflections. May my words enable you to hear the voice of Christ, who asks that you open the door to Him. Please share this podcast with others if you benefit from listening to it.
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Catholics revere the Old Testament as the inspired word of God along with the New Testament. Since Christ is God the Old Testament not only prepares for the New, but is fulfilled in the New Testament, and we read the Old Testament through the lens of the New. The first reading and the Gospel reading are an example of this intimate interplay between both testaments of Holy Scripture. But to see this we need a history lesson about both the Temple and the synagogue.
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History can be both a fascinating thing as well as very instructive. In fact, we all need a history lesson so as to understand the subtle meanings contained in both the Gospel and the first readings at Holy Mass this Sunday. We need also to remember that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New, and the Old Testament is also understood through the lens of the New. So to our history lesson. The worship that God asked from the Jewish people centered on the tabernacle. In the earliest days of Israel this was a portable tent, constructed under the directions that Moses gave. There were three sections to this portable tabernacle the outer court, the second court called the holy place, and beyond a curtain interwoven with images of the Kerabim was the holy of holies. The Keribim, by the way, are the second highest choir of angels, whose name means all knowing one. They constantly contemplate the wise love of God in his relationship with mankind. They reflect God's all knowing wisdom. Inside the Holy of Holies there was the Ark of the Covenant, in which were kept the tablets of stone of the Ten Commandments. The Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies was also guarded by two huge golden statues of Kerabim. Now Moses did not dream up the idea of the tabernacle. God gave him the directions, even to the dimensions and size of each section of the tabernacle, and what was to be enclosed in each section. This portable tabernacle moved with the Jewish people. However, when King David conquered Jerusalem in about one thousand and four BC, he moved the tabernacle into his capital city, and David then received a vision from God to design a permanent temple for the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. King Solomon his son would complete that task. This permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant was massive, adorned with gold and had cedar panelled walls. A blue, purple and red curtain, richly embossed with images of the Caribim, separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. Even the floor in the Holy of Holies was overlaid with gold. Now about five hundred years later, in the year five eighty six BC, the Babylonians invaded Israel and destroyed this temple. Even the Ark of the Covenant was destroyed, and it was never found again. About fifty years later, when Babylon itself was defeated by King Cyrus of Persia, King Cyrus decreed that the exiled Jews could return home to Jerusalem. They rebuilt their ruined temple, and under Nehemiah finished rebuilding the city walls. The stage was set for the renewal of the covenant and the reestablishment of the law of Moses as the people's rule of life. That's what's going on in today's first reading, as Ezra reads and interprets the law, and the people respond with a great amen. This second temple, as it's called, empty of the Ark of the Covenant, was further enhanced and glorified by Herod the Great during the life of Jesus. When Christ died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Christ reunited God and mankind through his propitiatory death on the cross, and the veil separating humanity from God fell away. About forty years after that, once again the temple was destroyed, this time by the Romans in seventy AD, as our Lord foretold in the Gospels. The temple has never been rebuilt. To this day all that is left is part of the western exterior wall of the temple as expanded under Herod. It is known now as the Wailing Wall. The temple has never been rebuilt, because it is no longer needed. The temple has been replaced by the body of Christ. Remember he said to the Pharisees and his critics Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. They thought he was speaking of the building, but he was meaning his body and his resurrection. Our churches are not tabernacles or temples in the strict sense. They are referred to as tabernacles or temples, because they contain the true temple, the blessed sacrament of Christ's body. Now the synagogue was a meeting place for prayer. Only in the temple could sacrifices be made to God, and devout Jews would go to Jerusalem each year for the Passover. Furthermore, the men of Israel were required to go to the temple three times each year, for the Passover, as well as the feasts of Pentecost and Tabernacles. Each town would have its synagogue, where not priests would perform their duties, but rabbis, scholars of the law, would be leaders and guides to the people. It is in the synagogue of Nazareth that we find Jesus in this early stage of the gospel according to Saint Luke. He reads the opening verses of Isaiah sixty one. In that chapter the prophet announces the liberation of prisoners, the rebuilding of Jerusalem or Zion, the restoration of Israel, and the forging of an everlasting covenant. It sounds a lot like the first reading. But even more amazing to his listeners is his statement that all of what Isaiah predicted is being fulfilled in their presence as he speaks those words. Jesus is not putting himself in line with Isaiah and all the prophets, but he is announcing that he fulfills them, a claim to be not just another prophet, but superior to them all. Just as in his body he would replace the temple, so also would he supersede the synagogue, since he would fulfil both the law of Moses and the prophets, which was the foundation of the synagogue worship. For this he would be rejected in his home town of Nazareth, and eventually be rejected in Israel. La dator Jesus Christus.
