Unveiling the Temple - Apocalypse

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. Matthew 27:51

With the news today of the Vatican allowing transgenders to be baptized and become Godparents, I am sure many people find themselves confused. We live in a time of identity crisis, where most of the world does not know the Father, and where confusion reigns the day. I like to look at these things through a wider lens of the story of God and His call to His people, who it seems, are not listening, but who He wants to save. In order to do this, we have to look at the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Prior to the fall, the union, it is beyond what we can picture. God wants us back in union and He gave us Mary, who is singular, in her grace filled unity.

Mary was saved preveniently by the Passion, death and resurrection, applied to her outside of time. Let’s now step back a moment into the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament the Temple held the Ark of the Covenant.  The area where it was kept had a veil, a curtain, that separated the Ark from the front portion of the temple.  The area of the Ark had no candles or natural light.  It was illuminated by God’s glory.  The lambs were slaughtered outside, the One High Priest would take the blood of the lambs and he would crawl under the veil or curtain and he was the only one allowed to do this.  He would then pour the blood of the lamb onto the ark in the center where it was illuminated by God’s glory.  This area in the center of the Ark where the blood was poured was known as the Mercy Seat.

Mary, who is the new ark of the covenant, was saved preveniently by the cross.  Her body is also a temple of the Holy Spirit, full of grace. Because she was already saved, the act of the temple veil being torn in two at the crucifixion had already been applied to her, meaning she was unveiled before God at the time of her conception, totally transparent and Immaculate.  In the Old Covenant the One High Priest had to crawl under the veil and he was the only one allowed in, but with Mary because the merits of the Cross were already applied to her, she was unveiled by the Holy Spirit and so bound to the Spirit was she, that the One High Priest, Jesus, made His home in her totally transparent, totally unveiled, totally pure, womb. Her soul and body so full of grace that she became the Ark, the Mercy Seat, at her Fiat to the angel. She was, so to speak, completely naked and unashamed before God. This is about her body and soul being so open to God, so unveiled, because of the saving Grace of God. His blood sacrifice applied to her, once and for all.

At the Nativity, like the Glory that illuminated the Ark of the Old Covenant, Mary too would have been illuminated with the light of God’s Glory. You can picture the birth, not as a regular birth, but one so filled with light that would emanate and pass through her. A light that would make Joseph fall face down on the ground. A light that would be marked in the heavens. She would have borne none of the curse that came upon us at the fall for she was Immaculate.

This light of the Mercy Seat is extended to us at our baptism. It’s where Christ gives us a piece of Mary, so to speak. That is to say, that through the Immaculate Conception, we are reborn in the waters of baptism, like waters of her womb, the womb of the temple, and we are washed in her Immaculate Conception, the gift that God gave her, and we are born again. But from there, we have to journey to the cross for our own complete unveiling. While Mary remained unveiled with God, from conception to the Cross and her own dormition and Assumption, we have work to do. Most of us don’t want to be unveiled, that is to say, we don’t want to be shown how far we are from God. We don’t want to take up our Cross and follow him. This is because, in comparison to Mary, we are a misery. I know I am. But this unveiling of us brings total purification.

The unveiling is actually known as the Apocalypse and it’s where everything becomes transparent, and God reveals all.  We will see how far we have fallen. We will see how twisted our identity has become and how demons trained us to think. Our souls will be laid bare, and we will see clearly.  Those inside the church have failed at many things. Many and have rejected the invitation to the cross and to purification. We even stopped praying for people to convert to Christ. We find ourselves in a house that is burning, wondering how we got here.

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.  Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’  But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Matthew 22:1-7

Rome is burning. God has invited all to the banquet.

Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests. Matthew 22:8-10

With all the people at the banquet, we will soon find out who is purified and who is not. God will be the judge, not us. Your duty is to see to it that your own heart is pure and surrendered to God.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:11-14

Pray to be purified. Take up your cross and follow Him. Be unveiled by God because this is where true charity will be forged within you. You will be a Temple of the Holy Spirit.

One day at the end of time, our bodies will be glorified for those who chose God, which is to say who chose Jesus, love, mercy and truth. The wedding garment will be white. It will render you without blemish.  We will either be naked and unashamed accepting mercy, or we will find ourselves naked and ashamed and rejecting mercy, blaspheming the Spirit to which Mary is so bound. The blasphemy of the Spirit is the unforgivable sin. Take Mary into your home. Don’t blaspheme her or her Holy Name. No matter where these times lead us, let the direction of the Cross guide you. Follow Christ and His Mother. Pentecost is on the other side.

O, My Jesus, save us from the fires of hell and save all souls in most need of thy mercy.