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Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to the Father, and

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

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with joy on this feast day. Perhaps you caught

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it last night and this morning. This main hymn,

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the Traparian, tells us that today, this day,

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

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the piece of music that comes before the opera

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

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of the preaching of the salvation of mankind.

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Salvation is central. Otherwise, what are we

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doing here? And it says, the virgin appears in

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the temple of God in anticipation. proclaiming

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Christ to all. So we're contemplating how salvation

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comes to mankind from God in this prelude of

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this anticipation of the Virgin in the temple.

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And salvation is the release from death, isn't

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it? From all that fear and violence and hatred

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and greed and anxiety and grief, so much grief.

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Our loving God works all things for us carefully,

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even day by day, throughout the centuries, carefully,

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just as he cared for every aspect of the ark

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and the building of the tent of testimony and

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the temple itself. Nothing was left to chance.

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Every type of wood was chosen by the Lord according

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to the vision God instructed Moses when he was

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on the mountain of Sinai and he beheld the mystical

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temple. Our God is working all things for us

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to release us from the slavery of sin which so

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easily besets us, grabs a hold of us, compels

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us. And we're contemplating today also why the

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

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this amazing story. And she enters into the temple

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of Jerusalem and runs up the 15 steps, never

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looking back at her parents, and is prepared

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

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the holy of holies itself. Dwelling there, incredibly.

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Strangely. And there was no ark there. There

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was no tablets. There was no rod that budded.

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There was no glory of God. The Holy of Holies

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was absolutely empty. Totally empty. All this

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

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

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he did things another way, took it another direction,

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solved things more quickly according to our vision

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

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said, like he instructed Moses according to the

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

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

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for his beloved Mary. who would give flesh to

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

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And I think of that original temple, and I contemplate

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what that means just a little bit, how the glory

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

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

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clearly, brothers and sisters, science and wonders

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and miracles are not enough, not just to not

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

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

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when you read the Old Testament, it's absolutely

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

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definitely. Solomon turned away from God, but

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

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

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he must have repented at the end. But his sons

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turned away from God. They did evil in the sight

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of God. Terrible idolatry, terrible sexual immorality,

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abuse of the poor, and wars, civil wars that

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followed, violence. The glory of God and the

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

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to save anyone. It was a placeholder. It was

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for something to come. Not enough, because that

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temple, those temples, because there was more

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than one, was just the sign, a foreshadowing

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of something better to come. The making, if I

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could use that word, the making of the temple,

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of the womb of the virgin who learned in the

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temple by being there what a temple should be.

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

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by our beloved saints and the miracles and the

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grace of God. She would become, her womb would

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become the temple of him who said, destroy this

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temple and I will raise it up in three days.

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Our loving God who seeks peace and salvation

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for us in our life. does things very quietly,

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

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

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

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to our salvation. We want our human quick resolutions.

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Our Lord seems to prefer what's ordinary, not

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

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has chosen the weak things of this world. And

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by that accomplishes a hidden mystery ordained

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

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Like this one right here. Imagine. Beautiful.

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Not anyone notable in the world who would be

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prepared. That person would be prepared, married,

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and shaped by the temple. And so now she points

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

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the one who points the way. And the saints now

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compose hymns for her, which give comfort to

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us in all our times of suffering and difficulty

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and confusions. Words like this, rejoice container

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of the uncontainable God, rejoice door of the

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solemn mystery, rejoice all glorious temple of

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him who is above the seraphim. But God is not

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

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We too receive all this that the feast has to

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offer us and are reminded, along with those first

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century Christians in Corinth who received St.

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Paul's stern letter, how surprising, how shocking

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it must have been, very unsettling. The vision

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of the temple where sacrifices were made, where

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forgiveness was offered, where offerings were

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made for thanksgiving, and the whole center of

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the life of Israel. It was shocking when St.

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Paul writes, Know ye not that ye are the temple

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of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in

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

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defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy.

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For the temple of God is holy, which temple you

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

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is our ministry in this world. To be a place

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of peace and holiness. Not division, but unity.

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Can we not struggle a little more, brothers and

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

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and cares and worries, but can we not struggle

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to find that holy of holies to be drawn into

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it in our own heart? Because this feast is also

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the feast of the silence of the Virgin. Bishop

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Callas does wear marks that somewhere. And so

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

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we will be cleansed. We hear that wonderful psalm,

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

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seriously. I will not give sleep to my eyes,

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nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place

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for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God

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

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personal destiny. This is the direction we must

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take as Christians to find a place for the Lord

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within, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

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We are nothing for God has chosen the weak of

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

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is a feast now in this time of Advent when we

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

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fresco here, the nativity, it leads us. Because

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

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

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the week before Christmas, the epistle. When

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

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found a place for the mighty God of Jacob within.

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

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shall also appear with him in glory. This is

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the vision that we have, Christians. This is

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the vision. No matter how much suffering or difficulty

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or grief and death there is, this is what the

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

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because I just saved a little clip and I put

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it in my notes, something I really loved. He

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wrote this. Today we hope for something very

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simple. Today on this feast of our Holy Lady,

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

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she has longed for this day when I would join

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

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happy that she is there and that her womb will

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make him our Lord, a gift for all, salvation

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

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

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

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where thy glory dwells. To our Lady be glory

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and honor with her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,

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now and ever, to ages of ages. Amen.