Memorial of The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 Lectionary: 425

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say,
'If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.'
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, 'If one swears by the altar, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.'
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,
or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

The Queenship of Mary is a memorial feast, but not an obligatory memorial, and we are permitted to use selected readings to honor the Virgin or those of this Monday of the 21st week of Ordinary Time. In a playful search for inspiration and divine guidance, we can look for a less-than-obvious link between today's gospel and the memorial feast.

Pope Benedict, in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, remarks about the primitive Church's attitude toward the temple in Jerusalem. Whereas Jews had treasured the temple as the only place to worship God, and diaspora Jews traveled from all parts of the Roman Empire to visit the shrine, the first Christians -- Jews and gentiles -- immediately forgot about that particular devotion. 

They maintained spiritual connections with the Church in Jerusalem and supported them through a famine. But the building disappeared from Christian spirituality. It's last mention is in the first chapters of Act of the Apostles. It reappears only as a heavenly vision in the Letter to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation. Christians found their temple in the person of Jesus; and especially in their gathering as a church, their ecclesia, a Greek word meaning assembly. During the first century they met in private homes or public places, and had no need for a building.

Today we hear Jesus's understanding of Pharisaic teachings about the building, and his response. They value the gold embellishment of the temple rather than the temple; and the gifts on the altar rather than the altar. Jesus's rebuke concerns the oath, a custom he takes seriously. The One who is The Word Made Flesh is very serious about words. Regardless of whether one swears by the temple, the gold, the stone, the altar, or the bread on the altar, an oath is sacred. In fact, every word is sacred with or without an oath, as he also teaches, 

"Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one."

The controversy in this passage also concerns the temple; and Catholics recognize Mary as the new temple of God. (Are you still with me? I am retired now and have time to ponder these things.) 

When the Angel Gabriel promises the Holy Spirit will overshadow you, we remember that the same Spirit overshadowed the temple. But she is now the temple. When the magi prostrate themselves before her and her child, they stretch themselves on the ground as they might have on the temple floor. They left Jerusalem and "Herod's temple" because neither was holy any more. 

And so we hear some Christians argue that our prayers to Mary are not heard but those to Jesus are. Hello? Are they not united in heart and soul in love of the One God? Can there be any difference of opinion between those who are bound with one mind, one heart, and one desire before the LORD? That forced distinction between Jesus and Mary sounds like the Pharisees' parsing the temple and its gold, or the altar and its bread. 

We come to Jesus through Mary, especially in obedience to her command, "Do whatever he tells you." 

We come to Mary through Jesus, especially in obedience to his command, "Behold your mother!" 

Plus, we heed the Angel's command to Joseph, "'Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.'... When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home."

In Catholic devotion there is no either/or between Jesus and Mary; there is only both/and. We love the Lord and his Mother. And his saints. And his angels. And we know they pray with us. The most secluded monk, lost sailor, or isolated prisoner prays with a cloud of witnesses. Our prayer is assembly and festival; we never pray alone and do not want to.