Votive Mass of Mary, Temple of the Lord

This morning we honor Mary under the title Temple of the Lord.  A temple is a place of worship.  It’s where God dwells with his people, and reaches out to the whole world.

Mary herself is rightly called Temple of the Lord, because she was the tabernacle in which Jesus was conceived and dwelt for the nine months of her pregnancy.  And, it was in her home, as in a temple, that Jesus grew up.  And it is through her, as Mediatrix of all graces, that we receive everything we have from God and reach out to help others.

Mary’s appearances at Fatima inspired me to answer her call for prayer and penance in the life of a Trappist monk.  For it is by prayer and sacrifices for the whole world that one day we will all dwell in the presence of God forever.