Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 Lectionary: 424

The vision was like that which I had seen
when he came to destroy the city,
and like that which I had seen by the river Chebar.
I fell prone as the glory of the LORD entered the temple
by way of the gate which faces the east,
but spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court.
And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD.

On the eighth day of the Assumption of Mary, the Church  celebrates her crowning as Queen of Heaven. And, as the memorial falls on a Saturday this year, Ezekiel tells about a marvelous vision of restoration. 

The prophetic Old Testament book is long and mysterious with many obscure verses that defy explanation and discourage curiosity. But today we hear of the Lord's return to the Temple of Jerusalem. It finishes a story he had begun earlier, a vision of the Glory of God abandoning the temple. That first vision was not implausible because he knew the most sacred shrine had been razed and the site leveled. 

But, despite their sins and the punishment their sins incurred, God's love is irrevocable.

Those who wait on the Lord will see his return. 

I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD.

Then I heard someone speaking to me from the temple,

while the man stood beside me.

The voice said to me: 

Son of man, this is where my throne shall be,

this is where I will set the soles of my feet;

here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever.

The secular history of the Temple is long and involved, as one would expect of any human story that involves three millennia. The Salvation History of the Temple is simpler; and we find its fulfillment in the first chapter of Saint Luke's Gospel: the Glory of God overshadowed the Virgin Mary and inspired her to give birth to Jesus. She is a dwelling for God's faithful forever.  

Saint Matthew adds to the story by his account about the Magi. They could not find the "newborn King of the Jews" in the Holy City or its temple; and so they travelled on to Bethlehem where, 

...on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

We find Mary living like her Son in poverty, which is the only place where the faithful might find the majesty and mystery of God. Their appearance in earthly splendor would be absurd, a parady, and too ridiculous to even look at. Can one compare the brilliance of a diamond to the light of the sun? 

We know the Queenship of Mary by Gabriel's greeting and her response. First he said, "Hail, Full of Grace!" and then, "Do not fear!" And, like a queen, she dismissed her startled reaction and received the Message of her Lord and God. 

...and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.