HOMILY WEEK 20 02 – Year II
Temples of the Holy Spirit and Humble Integrity
Memorial – The Queenship of Mary
(Ezk 43:1-7; Ps 85; Mt 23:1-12)
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The glory of the Lord entered the temple (Ezk 43:4).
The readings for today (there are other options) invite us to be temples of the Holy Spirit, leading lives of humble integrity.
The background to the first reading is that Israel was in exile, Jerusalem was in ruins, and the glory of the Lord – God’s shekinah or divine presence, had left the Temple (Ezk 10:18-19) because of the corruption of the religious leadership and infidelity of the people. For thirty years the people had been vassals of the Babylonians, cut off from God and weighed down by guilt.
Ezekiel had foreseen all this in an earlier vision. But he also saw something else: “the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east … and it entered the temple (43:2,4). Just as God’s presence had left the house of the Lord, it would return – and with it came a marvellous promise: “This is where my throne shall be … here I will dwell … forever” (43:7).
The promise in Ezekiel’s vision is not limited to a literal throne in a physical temple on a plot of land. Even as Ezekiel spoke hopefully of the Israelite’s return to Jerusalem, he also pointed to something much greater: the day when the kingdom of God would come to earth.
That promise extends through space and time to reach us today. Because of Mary’s fiat at the Annunciation; her faith in Jesus throughout her life, his cross and resurrection, and the key event of Pentecost, God’s dwelling place is with God’s people – wherever they are and live. At Pentecost, the glory of the Lord did return – not to the physical temple in Jerusalem, but to that little band of believers huddled in an upper room with Mary, in the form of tongues of fire and the sound of a rushing wind that filled the house. We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit, called to be icons of God’s presence in the world. What an awesome privilege and challenge.
In the gospel, Jesus reflects some of the reasons the glory of God had left the temple in the first place – the religious leaders were not practicing what they were teaching, and had fallen for the false gods of possessions, prestige (broad phylacteries and long fringes) and power. His followers are to be different, and to underline the importance of that, Jesus resorts to Semitic Hyperbole or holy exaggeration – not to call anyone father, rabbi or instructor. That is not meant to be taken literally – he is just teaching us the importance of humble integrity that characterizes anyone who is a disciple living in the kingdom of God which Jesus came to inaugurate here on earth.
Today’s memorial of the Queenship of Mary offers us an example for us to imitate (just as important as devotion to her). Mary was immaculately conceived, knew she was a lowly handmaid, that nothing was impossible for God, the perfect disciple who knew Jesus best and believed in him first. This memorial was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1954 “so that all may clearly recognize and more zealously venerate the kind and maternal rule of the Mother of God.” It is celebrated on the octave of the Assumption.
It seems that today’s feast of the Queenship of Mary has some interesting Oblate connections. Our congregation, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, to whom I belong, apparently had a role in asking the Pope Pius XII to institute this feast of Mary. We Oblates pray that she will continue to accompany us and intercede for us in our life and ministry.
The Eucharist is a foretaste of that eternal banquet we will fully share in someday – an experience of the kingdom through forgiveness and healing. We listen to the Word of God and commune intimately with Jesus Christ, the Real Presence, who came to redeem and sanctify us, and bring us into his kingdom.
May our celebration not only make us more holy and ready to do the will of the Father in our lives, but also send us out as servants to invite the rest of the world into the heavenly banquet already present to those who believe and do the will of God.
