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The Entrance of the Theotokos to the Temple
21 November 1999

If there is anything our modern society suffers from it is a lack of the sense of the holy. The Bible is filled throughout with the presence of a God whose power, holiness, and glory are so awesome, overwhelming, and terrifying that sinful and mortal men cannot bear it. Not only God himself, but the people and things associated with his presence and worship are elevated beyond the realm of the ordinary and share in his holiness.

But although sermons may be preached about God’s absolute holiness and incompatibility with any form of impurity in churches today, Americans have a noticeably casual approach to God. Many churches today deliberately avoid any suggestion that approaching God may be forbidding or intimidating. Sanctuaries are designed and services are tailored to help people feel relaxed and comfortable in a setting that is casual and informal. It is felt that communicating to people that a church is "holy ground" and that the worship of God is a serious matter will make people uneasy and turn them away. So instead of chant we have rock bands, instead of vestments, blue jeans, instead of reverence, people enjoying themselves immensely.

But when we look back to the Old Testament sources of our worship, we find an entirely different scenario. During the years of the Exodus, when the plans for the tabernacle were revealed, the specifications were exacting. Why? Because the tabernacle was a holy place: it was where God dwelt with his people.

We read in Exodus (25:21-22): "And you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I shall meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel."

Above the mercy seat, there was a visible manifestation of God: the so-called shekinah glory, an appearance of the uncreated light, continually shone there. Similarly, when the tabernacle became a permanent temple in Jerusalem, and the ark of the covenant was placed in it, we hear the following: (1 Kings 8:9-10) "There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord."

But when we turn to the New Testament, what do we find of the temple? Sure, Herod’s temple, one of the most impressive buildings of the ancient world, is mentioned many times there. But in the pages of the New Testament, we discover a temple far greater than Herod’s. We discover a dwelling place of God far more holy than the tabernacle of old. We see the glory of God enter an abode much more impressive than Solomon’s.

What is this abode? Where is this tabernacle? What is this temple? My brothers & sisters in Christ, it is none other than the womb of the virgin. This is what we celebrate today on the Feast of the Entrance of the Virgin to the Temple. The hymnology of the Church for today is full of the irony and paradox of the Feast: The Temple goes to the temple.

The contrast is obvious: The one temple is dead, made of stone, the other is a living temple made of flesh. The one was erected by men for God; the other was prepared by God for himself. The one contained the altar and continuous sacrifice, the other would contain the one sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus once spoke of himself saying: "The queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here." We may speak similarly of the Virgin as she stands at the gate of the temple today: "multitudes come from the ends of the earth to worship at this temple, and behold, a greater temple is here."

How can we speak of her womb? The Church only knows how in these terms: "More spacious than the heavens." The hymns of the Church meditate endlessly on this paradox: "How can the womb of the Virgin contain the uncontainable God?" And yet he dwells in her and is born from her according to the flesh.

Thus in the Virgin as the highest realization of the temple, the womb itself is revealed as a sacred and holy place, for God incarnate comes and dwells there. And yet, just as many today can no longer conceive of a church as a holy place, so too, many can no longer recognize that the womb is a holy place.

And just as we see sanctuaries violated and defiled by sacrileges in the name of worship, so too we see the sanctuary of the womb violated and defiled by violence in the name of freedom and rights.

Truly, if there is anything our society suffers from, it is a lack of the sense of the holy.

Psalm 139, verse 13 tells us: "For thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mothers womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Interestingly enough, the word "weave" is the same rare and unusual word used in the book of Exodus to describe the curtain to the gate of the tabernacle. It is as if the kind of weaving that is appropriate for one holy tabernacle is specified for the other. The work that goes on in the womb is holy work; all the more holy because God himself has entered and sanctified it by his incarnate presence.

It only remains for us to recall how the Lord responds to violations of the places he has made holy. What happened to Aaron’s sons when they offered incense improperly in the tabernacle? They died instantly. What happened when Korah and his allies openly challenged the holiness of the Aaronic priesthood God had instituted to serve in the tabernacle? The earth opened up and swallowed them. What happened to Uzzah when he reached out and touched the Ark to stabilize it? He died instantly.

Do you begin to get the picture? Of what fate are they worthy, then, who would violate the most sacred sanctuary of all - the womb which God has made holy forever by dwelling in it personally?

Make no mistake about it: as one author* put it: "The abortionist’s instruments pierce through those woven curtains and violate holy ground. We are talking here not only about the slaughter of the innocent, but about sacrilege, a direct attack on space claimed by God."

My brothers and sisters in Christ: On this feast as we contemplate the Virgin Mary as the supreme sanctuary of the holy God, the living temple whose womb is "more spacious than the heavens." In doing so, we see the womb revealed as a place hallowed and sanctified by God as his own dwelling place.

Let us never allow a society that has forgotten the meaning of holiness ever cause us to lose our reverence for the things God calls holy. But let us open our eyes to the holiness of the places God has deigned to dwell: the tabernacle of cloths, the temple of stone, and finally, the temple of flesh, the temple "more spacious than the heavens."

* In preparing this homily for publication on the Net, I have been unable to find the article from which this quote and the insight about the use of the word "weave with regard to the curtain of the tabernacle. With apologies, I can only state that it was published in "First Things" magazine sometime in 1999.

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